Taxpayer Land Swapped And Then Sold For $1 Million

Target 7 has uncovered that hundreds of acres were handed over in a land exchange and then sold for more than $1 million. All taxpayers got in return was a chunk of land that nobody else seems to want. There was money to be made on 730 acres of grazing land south of Las Cruces that lies a short distance away from the Rio Grande. At one time, the land belonged to the taxpayers. “It sounds like someone did really well, and it wasn’t the taxpayer,” New Mexico Land Commissioner Ray Powell said. In May, Target 7 uncovered how the Orozco family was illegally dumping piles and piles of chicken feces on state land that they leased. According to state records, the same family got their hands on the 730 acres of state land back in 2005 through a land swap with the state. Documents obtained by Target 7 show that the Orozcos cashed in less than two years after the swap when part of the land was sold off for 17 times the appraised value. When the rest was unloaded a short time later, the family walked away with more than $1 million for all of the land sold. It was a perfectly legal exchange...more