Company vows to sue over damages after New Mexico authorities destroy cannabis crops

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Company vows to sue over damages after New Mexico authorities destroy cannabis crops

2024-11-05 23:45 Last Updated At：23:50

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State police have destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana plants at greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico, marking what regulators say is the largest seizure and destruction of cannabis in New Mexico since new possession and cultivation laws took effect in 2021.

Authorities announced the operation Monday, saying dozens of agents were assigned to eradicate the plants in October. The state Cannabis Control Division had started the process of revoking the license of NNK Equity LLC, having filed a noncompliance order and a default order earlier this year.

The company was accused of not posting its licenses on site, failing to obtain water rights for cultivation, not having cameras that could monitor certain areas of its operation and violating sanitation and health requirements.

“The organization involved showed a blatant disregard for the laws of this state and we will prove that once this investigation is over,” New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement.

Jacob Candelaria, an Albuquerque attorney who represents NNK Equity, disputed the state's claims and accused regulators and state police of violating his client's civil rights. He said the state failed to properly serve notice of its intent to revoke the company's license and subsequently denied a request for a hearing on the merits of the case.

He said clients Irving Lin and Bao Xue speak Mandarin Chinese and have limited ability to understand the written English language. Lin asked for a Chinese translation, but the attorney said regulators did not respond to his request.

The Cannabis Control Division stated in filings related to the case that it complied with notice and hearing requirements and had afforded the company its due process rights.

The company plans to ask a state district judge to set aside the order revoking the license and to order state regulators to hold a hearing, Candelaria said. He added that NNK Equity also plans to sue the state for destroying what he said amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars of private property.

“The idea that law enforcement officers can destroy public property based upon a temporary restraining order — which can be entered without notice to all parties and before a hearing on the evidence — which was the case here, should concern all of us who believe in the Constitution.”

According to state regulators, NNK Equity was issued a license in December 2023 for a marijuana growing operation at a property in Waterflow, a rural area on the edge of the Navajo Nation and just south of the Colorado border. The region also made headlines earlier this year when state regulators cracked down on two other operations and Navajo Nation authorities ended up filing their own charges against two tribal members.

In the latest case, the Cannabis Control Division conducted a compliance check in June and determined that NNK Equity had exceeded its allotted plant count. The New Mexico State Police Special Investigations Unit was brought in and later found plants at a second location that was not licensed.

The violations outlined by state regulators also involve transportation and tracking requirements, which include assigning identifying numbers to each plant.

America reaches Election Day and a stark choice between Trump and Harris

2024-11-05 23:46 Last Updated At：23:50

WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale on Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.

Voters faced a stark choice between two candidates who have offered drastically different temperaments and visions for the world’s largest economy and dominant military power. Tens of millions of Americans cast early ballots — voting by mail or in person prior to Tuesday. Those voting on Election Day mostly encountered a smooth process around the country, with isolated reports of some hiccups that regularly happen, including long lines, technical issues and ballot printing errors.

Harris, the Democratic vice president, stands to be the first female president if elected. She has promised to work across the aisle to tackle economic worries and other issues without radically departing from the course set by President Joe Biden. Trump, the Republican former president, has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.

The two candidates spent the waning hours of the campaign overlapping in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state. They were trying to energize their bases as well as Americans still on the fence or debating whether to vote at all.

In Scranton, Pennsylvania, Liza Fortt arrived at her polling location in a wheelchair and not feeling well. But she ventured out anyway to vote for Harris.

“It means a lot to me and my grandkids, my granddaughters, my nieces. ... I was just waiting for this day to come,” said Fortt, who is 74 and Black. She said she never thought she’d have such an opportunity, to cast a ballot for a Black woman in a presidential race.

“I’m proud, to see a woman, not only a woman, but a Black woman,” Fortt said.

Harris and Trump entered Election Day focused on seven battleground states, five of them carried by Trump in 2016 before flipping to Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Arizona and Georgia. Nevada and North Carolina, which Democrats and Republicans respectively carried in the last two elections, also were closely contested.

Tommy Ray Brewer, a 72-year-old auto mechanic, voted for Trump in Black Mountain, North Carolina, which was hard-hit by Hurricane Helene.

“People are really divided right now. They’re mad, they’re angry because of the situation that the United States is in," Brewer said. “I have heard people say we’re in the best shape we’ve ever been in. But I say, ‘have you been to the grocery store, have you been to the gas station?’”

The closeness of the race and the number of states in play raised the likelihood that once again a victor might not be known on election night. There was one early harbinger from the New Hampshire hamlet of Dixville Notch, which by tradition votes after midnight on Election Day. Dixville Notch split between Trump and Harris, with three votes for each.

In the 2020 presidential race it took four days to declare a winner. Regardless, Trump has baselessly claimed that if he lost, it would be due to fraud. Harris' campaign was preparing for him to try to declare victory before a winner is known on Tuesday night or to try to contest the result if she wins. Four years ago, Trump launched an effort to overturn the voters’ will that ended in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump planned to vote in his adopted home state of Florida on Tuesday, then spend the day at his Mar-a-Lago estate in advance of a party at a nearby convention center. Harris already voted by mail in her home state of California. She'll have a watch party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington.

Harris, 60, would be the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She also would be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 32 years.

A victory would cap a whirlwind campaign unlike any other in American history. Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket less than four months ago after Biden, facing massive pressure from his party after a disastrous debate performance, ended his reelection bid.

Trump, 78, would be the oldest president ever elected. He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House, and the first person convicted of a felony to take over the Oval Office.

Having left Washington abandoned by some allies after Jan. 6, Trump defeated younger rivals in the Republican primary and consolidated the support of longtime allies and harsh critics within his party. He survived one assassination attempt by millimeters at a July rally. Secret Service agents foiled a second attempt in September.

A victory for Trump would affirm that enough voters put aside warnings from many of Trump's former aides or instead prioritized concerns about Biden and Harris' stewardship of the economy or the U.S.-Mexico border.

It would all but ensure he avoids going to prison after being found guilty of his role in hiding hush-money payments to an adult film actress during his first run for president in 2016. His sentencing in that case could occur later this month. And upon taking office, Trump could end the federal investigation into his effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

The potential turbulence of a second Trump term has been magnified by his embrace of the Republican Party’s far right and his disregard for long-held democratic norms.

Trump has used harsh rhetoric against Harris and other Democrats, calling them “demonic,” and has suggested military action against people he calls “enemies from within.”

Harris, pointing to the warnings of Trump's former aides, has labeled him a “fascist” and blamed Trump for putting women's lives in danger by nominating three of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. In the closing hours of the campaign, she tried to strike a more positive tone and went the entire last day Monday without saying her Republican opponent's name.

Heading into Election Day, federal, state and local officials expressed confidence in the integrity of the nation’s election systems. They nonetheless were braced to contend with what they say is an unprecedented level of foreign disinformation — particularly from Russia and Iran — as well as the possibility of physical violence or cyberattacks.

Both sides have armies of lawyers in anticipation of legal challenges on and after Election Day. And law enforcement agencies nationwide are on high alert for potential violence.

The outcome of the race was being closely watched around the world, with the future of American support for Ukraine, U.S. fidelity to its global alliances and the nation’s commitment to stand up to autocrats hanging in the balance.

Harris has vowed to continue backing Kyiv's defense against Russia's full-scale 2022 invasion. Trump has sharply criticized Ukraine, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggested he would encourage Russia to attack NATO allies of the U.S. that Trump considers delinquent.

Voters nationwide also were deciding thousands of other races that will decide everything from control of Congress to state ballot measures on abortion access.

More than 82 million people voted early — shy of the record set during the 2020 pandemic, when Trump encouraged Republicans to stick to voting on Election Day. This time, he urged his voters to lock down their ballots in advance and they complied in droves.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in Palm Beach, Florida, Darlene Superville and Eric Tucker in Washington, and Marc Levy in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.