Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrests of 31 people Monday as part of a multi-jurisdictional investigation called Operation Last Stand.
He said the investigation helped dismantle a pipeline of drugs from Mexico to Charleston and involved five indictments as well as 59 charges.
“The international narco terrorist cartels and gangs were involved in large scale trafficking of narcotics predominately in the Charleston area,” Wilson said.
The attorney general said the trafficking pipeline was responsible for hundreds of kilos of cocaine coming into South Carolina, as well as meth and fentanyl. And he said it involved criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua in Venezuela.
According to Wilson, the operation began last summer after a raid at a club called The Alamo in North Charleston. He said that’s when authorities began looking into unsanctioned nightclubs that were known to attract gang members and illegal immigrants.
The most recent raid at another North Charleston club earlier this year led to the arrests of 86 people. Authorities said 79 were illegal immigrants. They also found four trafficking victims and a juvenile.
During Operation Last Stand, which culminated last week, Wilson said authorities worked with law enforcement in Texas, Florida, and Georgia.
“So, this is all law enforcement doing large-scale operations in other states to dismantle this large-scale drug trafficking pipeline here in South Carolina,” Wilson said.
“No single agency can face this alone,” Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie said during Monday’s press conference in Columbia.
“But we shared information, coordinated operations, and trained side by side. We closed the gaps that dangerous criminals tried to exploit and delivered a significant blow to these criminal organizations and cartels.”
When asked if more arrests are expected, Wilson said, “the investigation is ongoing.”
