ALBUQUERQUE – Dineh Benally pleaded guilty in federal court to leading a vast illegal marijuana cultivation and distribution ring that spanned several years, exploited workers, and polluted the San Juan River on tribal lands. Four charges of manufacturing and possessing with intent to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and more than 1,000 marijuana plants. The criminal enterprise was dismantled following law enforcement seizures in November 2020, which confiscated approximately 260,000 marijuana plants and 60,000 pounds of processed marijuana. The second period, from approximately January 1, 2022, to January 23, 2025, involved an illegal marijuana grow operation near Estancia, New Mexico. On January 23, 2025, a joint federal and state law enforcement operation raided two additional marijuana farms linked to Benally near Estancia.