New Mexico

Customs and Border Protection Targeting Licensed New Mexico Weed Businesses | High Times

Published

2 years ago

April 10, 2024

Customs and Border Protection Targeting Licensed New Mexico Weed Businesses | High Times

Federal officials in New Mexico are apparently targeting state-licensed marijuana companies at border checkpoints and seizing regulated cannabis products, according to media reports.

New Mexico legalized medical marijuana in 2019, followed by the legalization of adult-use cannabis in 2021. Regulated sales of recreational weed began in the state on April 1, 2022, just under a year after Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the legalization bill into law.

Since then, New Mexico’s licensed cannabis businesses have seen little interference from federal authorities, much like other weed-legal states over the last several years. The situation has changed recently, however, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seizing regulated cannabis products at least a dozen times over the last two weeks, according to Ben Lewinger, executive director of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce. Although 12 such seizures have been reported, the actual number could be even higher.

“There still is a lot of stigma and a lot of fear so I imagine this is underreported,” Lewinger told KRQE 13 television news. “It’s hurting small businesses. It’s hurting all of us because of the loss of tax revenue.”

CBP officers are permitted to establish immigration checkpoints to help stem smuggling and human trafficking within 100 miles of the international border with Mexico. In states with legal weed, these checkpoints are generally navigated without incident by licensed cannabis companies moving products within the state. But recently that has changed, although seemingly only in New Mexico. Lewinger said he believes the state’s cannabis businesses are being targeted by federal officials in the state and called on the Biden administration to step in.

“Our brothers and sisters in California and Arizona, which also share a border with Mexico, they’re not seeing this kind of same increased activity. It seems like this is a situation that is particular to New Mexico and I think what needs to happen is The White House needs to direct the Department of Homeland Security to stop wasting resources on a product that poses no threat,” Lewinger said. “It’s just clearly outside of the scope of Customs and Border Patrol.”

Nick Spoor, operations manager at Top Crop Cannabis Co., told reporters that the company has regularly transported cannabis products through CBP checkpoints successfully.

“Normally they don’t have dogs, usually it’s just a, ‘are you a U.S. citizen, yes’ and then they wave you through,” said Spoor.

But that changed when CBP agents seized products from one of the company’s vehicles at a checkpoint on Valentine’s Day.

“We’ve been going through that checkpoint for over a year, no questions asked, so obviously we’re doing everything compliantly. It was manifested product,” said Top Crop Cannabis Co. CEO Matt Chadwick. “So, I was shocked, a little blown away and taken back.”

Ethan Ramsey, an employee with Las Cruces cannabis producer Head Space Alchemy, was arrested by the CBP last week while attempting to go through an immigration checkpoint, according to a report from The Paper. The driver had been stopped at a checkpoint on Interstate 25, about 25 miles north of Las Cruces while delivering samples to a cannabis lab in Santa Fe.

Rob Duran, a managing partner of Head Space Alchemy, was following in another vehicle. The Paper obtained an audio recording of the interaction with CBP officials.

“We’ve been instructed to seize all cannabis—all illegal products,” the CBP officer can be heard saying. “It’s still federally illegal.”

When Duran asked how the company and CBP could reach a solution to the situation, he was told that he could talk to a supervisor or contact the regional office.

“I can’t tell you anything that they [haven’t] already told you,” the officer says on the recording. “Or I can’t go above what they’re telling you … Everything’s going to get seized.”

When Duran asks about Ramsey, he is told that the employee has been arrested.

“He’s under arrest,” the agent says. “That’s what happens when someone gets placed under arrest. You’re trying to get a definitive answer out of me. I don’t know where we’re at. We’ve just started this process. We’ve just started this case, so I can’t give you a definitive answer.”

Between last week’s seizure by CBP and an earlier one, Duran says the company has lost about $20,000 in product. More significantly, his workers now have a record with the federal government because of the interactions.

“In both cases, [employees] have had their pictures taken and been fingerprinted, and have also been told that their names are going to now be in a federal database as being caught at a federal inspection checkpoint with cannabis,” Duran says.

When contacted by local media, a CBP spokesperson denied allegations that officers in New Mexico are targeting licensed cannabis businesses.

“Although legal for medical and/or recreational use in many states, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Therefore, U.S. Border Patrol agents will continue to take appropriate enforcement action against those who are encountered in possession of marijuana anywhere in the United States.”

Chadwick of Top Crop Cannabis Co. said that his business can handle the loss from CBP interference. But he says that other companies could be irreparably harmed by the product seizures.

“People’s lives are at stake here. Businesses are at stake here. And it can affect some people with, like I said, very dire circumstances and they could lose everything they’ve had,” said Chadwick. “They’ve put their hearts and souls into their businesses and it’s not fair.”

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New Mexico

Body of Albuquerque city councilor’s brother found

Published

5 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

Body of Albuquerque city councilor’s brother found

MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. (KRQE) – The missing family member of an Albuquerque city councilor has been found dead. The town of Mountainair announced on Saturday via Facebook that the body of Albert Peña, the brother-in-law of City Councilor Klarissa Peña, has been found.

Albert Peña went missing on December 30. Police are looking into Peña’s death as a homicide. Anyone with information about this disappearance and death is asked to contact Mountainair police.

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New Mexico

‘West Wing’ actor Timothy Busfield accused of child sex abuse in New Mexico

Published

17 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

‘West Wing’ actor Timothy Busfield accused of child sex abuse in New Mexico

New Mexico authorities have accused Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield, known for series “The West Wing” and “Thirtysomething,” of child sex abuse.

A judge on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the 68-year-old actor on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and a single count of child abuse. The arrest warrant affidavit, reviewed by The Times on Sunday, accuses Busfield of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his tenure on the Fox crime drama “The Cleaning Lady.”

“The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions,” Fox and Warner Bros. Television said in a statement shared Sunday. “We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action. … We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”

Busfield, who was an actor, producer and director for “The Cleaning Lady,” allegedly sexually assaulted of one of the young actors multiple times during his tenure. According to the affidavit, one child actor said Busfield first touched his “‘private areas’” multiple times on set when he was 7 years old. The actor said that when he was 8 years old, Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times. He was “afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the Director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him,” the affidavit said.

The second child actor said that Busfield “started touching them for the first two years” of his time on “The Cleaning Lady,” which filmed in Albuquerque, according to the complaint. The investigator said both children said they did not speak out about their alleged encounters with Busfield out of fear or concern for him.

The actors’ mother, per the complaint, reported the alleged abuse to Child Protective Services in October 2025, claiming that Busfield sexually abused her children from November 2022 to spring 2024. Police began investigating the alleged abuse in November 2024 after receiving a request from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

According to the affidavit, the investigation also included interviews with the children’s therapists and doctors. One of the child actors, who disclosed the alleged abuse by Busfield to his therapist, has issues with bed-wetting “along with other behavior issues,” was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety and has suffered nightmares “about the director touching him,” according to the complaint.

The investigator also spoke to numerous cast and crew members of “The Cleaning Lady,” which was canceled in June after four seasons. The affidavit details the investigator’s conversations with production assistants, the studio teacher and Busfield.

Busfield, married to actor Melissa Gilbert, told the investigator that “Cleaning Lady” producer Warner Bros. Television notified him in the spring of 2025 of an investigation regarding complaints “about him from the boys.” When asked whether he had any physical contact with the two child actors, Busfield “said it was highly likely that he would have,” the complaint said. He suggested to the investigator that the boys’ mother might have sought “revenge” on the director for “not bringing her kids back for the final season,” according to the complaint.

Though Busfield confirmed the identities of the young actors to the investigator in his interview, he allegedly said later, “ ‘I don’t remember those boys’ ” and “ ‘I don’t remember overtly tickling the boys ever, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for me.’ ”

The complaint also details Warner Bros.’ investigation into Busfield’s alleged behavior. The studio started its investigation after receiving an anonymous tip in February 2025 from the SAG-AFTRA hotline regarding a December 2024 incident. Busfield allegedly entered the hair and makeup trailer and “kissed a minor male on the face as the minor was getting a haircut.” The complaint further alleged “there are pictures of Mr. Busfield, ‘tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys.’ ”

Neither Fox or Warner Bros. immediately responded to a request for comment on Sunday, but a spokesperson for the latter told the New York Times it is “aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”

Busfield received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Elliot Weston in the ABC drama “Thirtysomething” in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. He also appeared in “Field of Dreams,” “Little Big League,” “The Byrds of Paradise” and other titles. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role in “The West Wing” as Danny Concannon, a White House correspondent who strikes up a relationship with Press Secretary C.J. Clegg, played by Allison Janney.

In addition to television and film, Busfield is a stage actor and director. In 1991, Busfield and his brother Buck Busfield created the B Street Theatre, a nonprofit theater in Sacramento that first began as a touring theater group for children. He also pitched for baseball team the Sacramento Smokeys and was inducted into the Sacramento Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Prior to the allegations from his time on “The Cleaning Lady,” Busfield was accused in 1994 of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old actor who appeared on “Little Big League.” He denied those claims and sued his accuser for defamation. The case ended in a settlement, with a judge ordering Busfield to pay the woman $150,000.

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