ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — 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.
The charges against Dineh Benally, 48; Donald Benally, 74; and Irving Rea Yui Lin, 73, of California, include conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute and polluting a protected waterway.
Prosecutors described the alleged operation as a brazen criminal enterprise and asked a federal judge to detain the men pending trial, suggesting in a motion that there was a risk the defendants would flee and that they were a danger to the community.
“The bottom line is that defendants are drug traffickers who operate in accordance with their own laws, so how can anything short of detention ensure the safety of the community or defendants' appearance in this matter," the motion reads.
Phone and email messages seeking comment were left Thursday for the defendants.
Dineh Benally first made headlines when cannabis farming operations in northwestern New Mexico were raided by federal authorities in 2020. The Navajo Department of Justice sued him, leading to a court order halting those operations.
A group of Chinese immigrant workers also sued Benally and his associates. The workers claimed they were lured to northern New Mexico and forced to work long hours trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation, where growing the plant is illegal.
Just last year, New Mexico marijuana regulators revoked the license of the growing operation in Torrance County, east of Albuquerque. Regulators levied a $1 million fine, saying there were about 20,000 mature plants on site — four times more than the number allowed under the license. Inspectors also found another 20,000 immature plants.
According to the indictment, the enterprise involved the construction of more than 1,100 cannabis greenhouses, the solicitation of Chinese investors to bankroll the effort and the recruitment of Chinese workers to cultivate the crops. Dineh Benally also is accused of approaching the chief of police for the Navajo Nation in an attempt to bribe him with drug proceeds to allow marijuana to be grown on tribal land.
With armed guards securing the farms on tribal land, the indictment alleges, vacuum sealers were used to package marijuana and Chinese workers transported the drugs across state lines.
The defendants also are accused of violating federal clean water standards by installing a dam made of sandbags along the San Juan River to help irrigate the crops. Wells also were drilled to access water.
If convicted, the defendants each face no less than 10 years and up to life in prison, prosecutors said.
FILE - Dineh Benally poses for a photograph before a Navajo Nation presidential forum at a tribal casino outside Flagstaff, Ariz., June 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Rory McIlroy joined more elite company Sunday at the Masters when he pulled away with a pair of birdies around Amen Corner and, as usual, saved a little drama for the end before taking his place in Augusta National history as only the fourth back-to-back champion.
In a final round where three players had a two-shot lead, McIlroy seized control for good with a bold shot over Rae’s Creek to 7 feet for birdie on the par-3 12th. Then he blistered a 350-yard drive on the par-5 13th that set up another birdie to move three shots ahead.
There were a few dicey moments, including a shot over the par-3 16th green that required him to use the slope to get in close for par, having to get up-and-down for par on the 17th and a wild drive on the 18th that wound up closer to the 10th fairway.
He tapped in for bogey and a 1-under 71 for a one-shot victory over Scottie Scheffler.
A year ago, his playoff victory over Justin Rose made McIlroy only the sixth player with the career Grand Slam. With another green jacket, McIlroy joined Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only repeat winners of the Masters.
“I just can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one green jacket, and I get two in a row,” McIlroy said. “I think all of my perseverance at this golf tournament over the years has really started to pay off. It was a tough weekend. I did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday.
“But just so, so happy to hang in there and get the job done.”
McIlroy stood tall when he tapped in the final putt to finish at 12-under 276. There was no relief like last year of going 17 years trying to win the Masters. This was pure joy. And for the first time since 2002 when Woods went back-to-back, it was up to the Augusta National chairman, Fred Ridley, to help him into the green jacket.
“It still fits, which is nice,” McIlroy said at the trophy presentation.
President Donald Trump congratulated McIlroy on social media as he flew back to Washington from Florida.
“With each year, Rory is becoming more and more a LEGEND!” Trump wrote. McIlroy’s next tournament is likely to be the Cadillac Championship in two weeks at Trump Doral outside Miami.
It was more heartache for Rose, and frustration for the others who had a chance.
Rose had a two-shot lead that evaporated around Amen Corner with two bogeys and a three-putt par. He couldn't make up enough ground the rest of the way and had to settle for a third close call at the Masters.
Cameron Young lost his two-shot lead much earlier with a long three-putt bogey on the par-3 sixth and taking bogey on the next hole when he hit wedge from the fairway into a bunker. One shot behind going to the back nine, Young closed with nine straight pars.
“There is no negative to take away other than obviously I would’ve loved a different result,” Young said. “I pretty much had a birdie chance on every hole and didn’t make any. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
As for Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player was in position to shatter the Masters record with the largest 36-hole comeback in history. He was 12 behind going into the weekend. He was two shots behind as he approached the turn. But he ran off 11 straight pars — that wasn't going to cut it during a final round with accessible pins to create excitement.
Scheffler had to settle for his third runner-up finish in the majors to go along with four titles. His 65-68 weekend made him the first player since 1942 to go bogey-free on the weekend at Augusta.
“I put up a good fight in order to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said.
Rose, at age 45 trying to become the second-oldest Masters champion behind Jack Nicklaus (46) in 1986, made it feel as though this was going to be his time. He made a most improbable birdie with a shot out of the trees to a foot on the seventh. That was the start of three straight birdies to close out the front nine and give him the lead.
But his approach to the 11th was well to the right and he failed to save par. His tee shot on the 12th was long, and his delicate chip didn't reach the green, leading to another bogey. And then his 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 13th ran 8 feet by the hole and he missed the birdie putt.
“Chance that got away,” Rose said. “I was by no means free and clear and was nowhere kind of close to having the job done, but I was right in position. ... I was really in control. And the mentality was to run through the finish line, not just try and get it done.
“I was playing great, but just momentum shifted for me around the Amen Corner.”
That's where McIlroy thrived. No shot at Augusta is more terrifying that the par-3 12th with the deceptive, swirling wind. McIlroy said he thought back to a practice round at his first Masters in 2009 when Tom Watson told him to wait for the right wind and hit.
His three-quarter 9-iron aimed at the middle bunker drifted more to the right that he imagined, but it turned out perfect, 7 feet away, closer than anyone all day.
“That was a really good golf shot at the right time,” he said. “Huge shot in the tournament.”
And the on the 13th, where he had put his drives into the trees right of the fairway the first three days, he came up with one of his best swings of the week, leaving him an 8-iron to the green.
At the end it was a now familiar champion, McIlroy, once tormented by his chase for the green jacket and now a two-time winner whose love for the Masters only deepens.
His sixth major puts him in a group that includes Faldo. One more and he can tie Harry Vardon for the most majors by a European.
McIlroy was so ecstatic a year ago that he asked the media when it was over, “What are we going to talk about next year?” Now the topic is easy. No one has ever won three in a row.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, holds the trophy after winning the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga.(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates after winning the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts before winning the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates after winning the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Justin Rose, of England, reacts after missing a putt on the 16th hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, walks to green on the seventh hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after missing a putt on the 15th hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his tee shot on the sixth hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Tyrrell Hatton, of England, watches his tee shot on the sixth hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Justin Rose, of England, waves after his putt on the eighth hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Cameron Young hits from the fairway on the first hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, walks to green on the first hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Cameron Young waves after his putt on the 13th hole during the third round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after missing a putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
