Feds Raid Binally Cannabis Operations
Close to fifty federal agents milled about in the parking lot of the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, January 23, 2025, just before 5:00 AM. Multiple agency command trailers were parked in front of the District Court and Criminal Investigation Division (CID) buildings. With the temperature hovering at 5°F, law enforcement officers huddled together in vehicles and in the lobby of the CID building. From the body armor plate carriers and nylon windbreakers worn by agents, it was possible to identify some of the agencies involved in the operation: the US Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New Mexico State Police (NMSP), and the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO).
It became clear relatively quickly who and what the target of the operation was: Dineh Binally and two of his cannabis grow operations. Torrance County Sheriff David Frazee praised the joint federal, state, and local law enforcement operation as being the result of a substantial period of case development and evidence collection over the past year. In the past, Binally has been accused of forced labor at his cannabis grows. Binally’s cannabis grows here in Torrance County and on the Navajo Nation have also been considered illegal cannabis grows.
At Binally’s cannabis grow on NM-41 in Estancia, a helicopter flew low over greenhouses as Chinese laborers were loaded onto a charter bus labeled as being used by the Department of Homeland Security. Officers with the NMSP operated two large drones over the cannabis grow for evidence collection. Back at the command post, FBI Public Information Officer Margot Cravens was circumspect regarding the operation, but said that she “can confirm the FBI along with our partners are currently conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity. Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, I am not able to provide any additional details at this time.” It has not been confirmed whether Binally was arrested at the time of this writing.