Several New Mexico Marijuana Businesses Sue Feds Over Border Patrol Seizures Of State Legalized Business Transactions

Several New Mexico Marijuana Businesses have filed a lawsuit in federal court demanding border patrol to stop seizure of marijuana being legally transported between businesses. 

A concerned business coalition of New Mexico marijuana operators have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), alleging that federal agents have been unconstitutionally seizing state-legal cannabis products, unlawfully detaining industry workers and, by doing so, empowering illicit operators.

The court filing also contains claims about instances where cannabis workers were subject to at times “inhumane” conditions while in CBP custody, including one woman who was detained for hours without being charged and was allegedly forced to use the bathroom in view of agents and went without clean water during her detention.

Representatives of eight New Mexico marijuana businesses jointly filed the lawsuit against the federal government on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. This comes months after initial reports emerged of CBP agents increasingly taking cannabis products and other assets from state licensees at border checkpoints throughout the state.

“This has resulted in loss of revenue, upset business operations and expectations, difficulties with the New Mexico cannabis regulators and the required seed-to-sale tracking obligations,” the filing says.

The plaintiffs say the CBP actions, without due process, violate protections against unlawful searches and seizures guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

They also noted that the seizures and detainments “conflict with the Federal Government’s longstanding policy of not interfering with state-legal cannabis programs” and comes as the Biden administration moves forward in its effort to federally reschedule marijuana.

The controversy has also caught the attention of certain congressional lawmakers. For example, Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) sought to amend appropriations legislation covering DHS by explicitly preventing U.S. border patrol agents from using funds to seize marijuana from state-licensed businesses.

The spike in cannabis seizures seems to be largely isolated to New Mexico, even though other states like Arizona and California also have legal cannabis operators near the Mexico border.

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