A federal grand jury has indicted a Navajo man, his father and a business partner on charges that they were running illegal marijuana growing operations in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation to supply the black market.
The indictment was unsealed Thursday, a week after local, state and federal authorities raided the home of one of the defendants and two farms in a rural area east of Albuquerque that were no longer licensed by the state. Items seized included 8,500 pounds (3,855 kilograms) of marijuana, some methamphetamine, two firearms, $35,000 in cash, illegal pesticides and a bullet proof vest.
