An Arizona produce distributor has been suspended from doing business, after failing to pay nearly $1.8 million to four growers in Mexico and Arizona.
Nogales-based Sandia Distributors will not be able to participate in the produce industry until January of 2019. Its owner, Raul Paez, is banned until January of 2018.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said three growers in Mexico and one in Arizona were not paid for 23 million pounds of watermelons over 13 months from 2014 to 2015.
The Arizona Daily Star reports Sandia’s ban went into effect in mid-February.
Under the USDA suspension, Paez is also not allowed to work for other produce companies covered by the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, the measure that regulates fair-trading practices among produce businesses.
