Federal Government Raids New Mexico Marijuana Farms

Drug cartels and human traffickers aren’t the only people dodging border patrol officers these days in southern New Mexico. The state’s cannabis businesses — which operate legally under state law — are also desperately trying to evade border checkpoints.

That’s because U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have seized more than $300,000 of state-licensed cannabis in New Mexico in the last two months. These seizures occurred at border patrol checkpoints, some of which lie as far as 80 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.The crackdown has created tension between the Biden administration and Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham — who championed marijuana legalization and touted it as an economic boon for the state. The enforcement actions are occurring as the Justice Department is preparing to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, which would mark the biggest liberalization of drug policy in more than half a century.

“It doesn’t feel like this really has anything to do with what their role is,” said Ben Lewinger, executive director of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. “They’re supposed to detain people entering the country illegally, and then detain narcotics and other dangerous items also entering the country illegally.”

The wave of seizures mark a clear departure from long-standing federal policy, wherein law enforcement officials have largely taken a hands-off approach to enforcement in the 38 states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis possession in conflict with federal law.