A coalition of New Mexico marijuana businesses 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.
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