The Navajo Nation has filed charges against two men, alleging they were illegally growing large amounts of marijuana near Shiprock in 2020. Federal, tribal and state law enforcement at the time found and destroyed about a quarter of a million plants
The Nation is charging Dineh Benally and Farley Blue-Eyes with six criminal complaints in connection with the grow operation, which at the time Benally claimed was a hemp farm. Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said in a statement that the operation was highly disruptive, exploiting Navajo residents, and harming precious natural resources.
In a separate lawsuit filed last year, Chinese immigrant workers recruited for the Shiprock operation are suing Benally and his Taiwanese business associate Irving Lin. The charges include human trafficking, false imprisonment and wage violations.
Since the Shiprock operation was closed down, Benally has been granted at least two cultivation permits to grow marijuana elsewhere in the state. But his license was revoked earlier this month for a farm in Estancia, in Torrance County, and he was fined $1 million. The farm allegedly grew more plants than were permitted, didn't track its inventory and didn't conduct proper pest control.
In Estancia, county commissioner Samuel Schropp told KUNM that he had seen Asian workers at that farm living in apparently unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
Local planning and zoning officials had filed a complaint against Benally alleging that he had more RVs on his property than were permitted and that they did not have septic, water or fire suppression. No people were visible at the farm when a KUNM reporter visited on January 3.
Another marijuana farm in Estancia, known as Bliss Farm, also had its license revoked and a million-dollar fine issued for similar violations this month.
