By Kevin Hendricks
A two-time Navajo Nation presidential candidate who is linked to two cannabis greenhouse operations that were raided by multiple law enforcement agencies Jan. 23 is facing a slew of federal charges.
Federal authorities arrested Dineh Benally, who operates the Nihooka Dine Earthly People Church operation near Estancia, in Los Lunas the day before the raids. According to court records Benally was indicted on five charges Jan. 22, including conspiracy, drug manufacturing, intent to distribute and polluting the water.
With Benally in custody, agents and officers from the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, New Mexico State Police and the Torrance County Sheriff’s Department raided the facilities near Estancia early Thursday morning.
New Mexico State Police hauled marijuana plants away to an undisclosed location in dump trucks.
FBI Public Affairs Officer Margot Cravens confirmed to The Independent News Thursday that the FBI was involved.
“Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, I am not able to provide any additional details at this time,” Cravens said.
While FBI officials have yet to provide specific details, multiple people were detained in handcuffs outside the Nihooka Dine Earthly People Church operation.
It was a similar scene at another facility connected to Benally at 31 La Trencherita Road, where law enforcement officers were seen disposing of marijuana plants. The owner of that facility confirmed it is also leased by Benally.
State regulators with the Cannabis Control Division previously cited an operation at or near the Nihooka Dine location for growing cannabis without a license. Benally, the self-described operator, later sued the state claiming his operation is exempt from regulation because he operates as a Native American church.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda confirmed to The Independent News that the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office worked with the FBI on the investigation into the locations, which has been ongoing “for months.”
“This has been a problem that was brought to us by the great citizens of this city here, and we wanted to make sure we did something,” Bujanda said. “Torrance County reached out and we responded.”
Benally has had issues with the Cannabis Control Division for years.
Last January, the Native American Agricultural Development Company, south of Estancia, was cited for eight violations, including growing almost 40,000 more marijuana plants than was permitted by the state.
Benally, who ran for state senate in 2020, was under federal investigation the same year for an illegal cannabis growing operation on Navajo land near Shiprock. Benally has been sued by Chinese immigrant workers, alleging forced labor.
In an interview with Searchlight NM in March 2024, Benally alluded to a sovereign right to grow cannabis, which he says is a religious sacrament for Native people.
“This is an ancestral plant,” Benally said. “This plant belongs to us as Native people. We as Native Americans, when we’re born, we’re entitled to this land…Anything that grows, that belongs to the Native American.”
