Cannabis Seizures at U.S.-Mexico Border Checkpoints Frustrate State-Licensed Pot Industry

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol is asserting its authority to seize cannabis shipments — including state-sanctioned commercial supplies — as licensed cannabis suppliers file complaints claiming more than $300,000 of marijuana have been confiscated in recent months on the highway. checkpoints in southern New Mexico.

New Mexico’s Democratic governor said the disruption prompted a discussion this week with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose impeachment charges were dismissed this week. Governor. Michelle Lujan Grisham says she has expressed concerns that oversight of cannabis companies appears to be greater in New Mexico than in states with regulated markets not along the U.S. border with Mexico .

Licensed cannabis sales in New Mexico have surpassed $1 billion since regulation and taxation of the recreational market began two years ago. Yet cannabis transport drivers say they were detained for hours while supplies were seized at permanent Border Patrol checkpoints that screen incoming traffic for unauthorized migrants and illegal narcotics, usually located at approximately 100 kilometers from the American border.

“Secretary Mayorkas has assured the Governor that federal policies regarding cannabis legalization have not changed,” Lujan Grisham spokesman Michael Coleman said in an email. “Regardless, the governor and her administration are working on a strategy to protect New Mexico’s cannabis industry. »

Last week, executives from 10 cannabis companies, including carriers, petitioned New Mexico’s congressional delegation to negotiate free passage for shipments, noting that jobs and investment are in game and that several couriers were pulled aside for “secondary inspection” and fingerprinted at Border Patrol checkpoints.

“We request that operators whose products have been seized by the federal government be allowed to either get their product back or be financially compensated for the losses they have suffered,” the letter states.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said the Department of Homeland Security should focus on urgent priorities that don’t include cannabis suppliers who follow state law.

“Stopping the flow of illicit fentanyl into our country should be the Department of Homeland Security’s priority at these checkpoints, not seizing cannabis transported pursuant to state law,” the senator said in a statement. , referring to the parent agency of U.S. Customs. and Border Patrol. “New Mexicans rely on federal law enforcement to do everything they can to keep our communities safe. Our resources should be used to maximize the safety of residents, not to distract from it .

A public statement Thursday from the U.S. Border Patrol sector that oversees New Mexico reiterated that cannabis is still a “Schedule 1” drug, a designation also given to heroin and LSD.

“Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. states and Canada, the sale, possession, production, and distribution of marijuana or the facilitation thereof remains illegal under U.S. federal law,” indicates the agency’s press release. “Therefore, individuals violating the Controlled Substances Act encountered while crossing the border, arriving at a U.S. port of entry, or Border Patrol checkpoint may be considered inadmissible and/or subject to seizure , fines and/or arrest. »

Matt Kennicott, owner of High Maintenance, a Socorro-based cannabis company, said seizures by Border Patrol began in February without warning and created uncertainty about shipments that included samples for consumer safety testing. He said cannabis growers in far southern New Mexico rely on testing labs further north, on the other side of Border Patrol checkpoints, to comply with the measures. protection against contaminants such as mold or pesticides.

“It’s not a little confusing, it’s very confusing,” he said. “We are trying to understand where this directive comes from.”