ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State police destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana plants in greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico; This was what regulators said was the largest seizure and destruction of marijuana in New Mexico since new possession and cultivation laws went into effect. 2021.

Authorities announced the operation Monday and said dozens of agents were deployed to destroy the facilities in October. The state Division of Cannabis Control had begun the process of revoking NNK Equity LLC’s license by filing a noncompliance order and judgment of default earlier this year.

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

“The agency involved blatantly disregarded the laws of this state, and we will prove that once the investigation is complete,” New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement.

Jacob Candelaria, an Albuquerque attorney representing NNK Equity, disputed the state’s claims and accused regulators and state police of violating his client’s civil rights. The official said the state failed to properly comply with notice of intent to revoke the company’s license and then denied its request for a hearing on the merits of the case.

He said his clients, Irving Lin and Bao Xue, spoke Mandarin Chinese and had limited ability to understand written English. Lin requested a Chinese translation, but the lawyer said regulators did not respond to the request.

In its filings for the case, the Division of Cannabis Control stated that it complied with notice and hearing requirements and granted the company its due process rights.

Candelaria said the company plans to ask a state district judge to vacate the decision revoking the license and order state regulators to hold a hearing. He also added that NNK Equity plans to sue the state for destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars of private property.

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

NNK Equity was granted a license in December 2023 for a marijuana growing operation on property in Waterflow, a rural area bordering the Navajo Nation and just south of the Colorado border, according to state regulators. The region also made headlines earlier this year When state regulators collapse Navajo Nation officials in two other operations to present one’s own accusations against two tribesmen.

In the latest case, the Cannabis Control Division conducted a compliance check in June and determined that NNK Equity had exceeded the number of plants allocated. The New Mexico State Police Special Investigations Unit became involved and later found unlicensed plants at a second location.

The violations cited by state regulators include shipping and tracking requirements that include assigning identifying numbers to each facility.