Operation Last Stand: More than 30 indicted in multi-agency cartel crackdown
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Monday that a multi-jurisdictional operation last week finished apprehending more than 30 individuals indicted in a state grand jury investigation dubbed "Last Stand," according to Live 5 News WCSC. The announcement came during a press conference at the attorney general's office in Columbia, with officials from federal, state, and local agencies in attendance.
The operation focused on the greater Charleston area and grew out of investigations into unsanctioned nightclubs that officials said became hubs for narcotics trafficking, prostitution, and gang violence, as reported by Live 5 News WCSC. The investigation returned five indictments containing 59 charges against 31 defendants, with some defendants remaining under seal. Wilson said all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Bond set for most defendants was scheduled for Monday, August 24, at the Richland County Courthouse.
Officials and statements
During the announcement, Wilson stated, "Narcotics trafficking from Mexican cartels poses a threat to national security, and I commend our partner agencies for doing the difficult and dangerous job of investigating and apprehending alleged gang- and cartel-affiliated individuals," as quoted by Live 5 News WCSC. He added that the investigation involved "not only drug trafficking on a large scale, but also gun smuggling, prostitution and shootings, with illegally operating businesses and nightclubs often being the epicenter of this criminal activity."
SLED Chief Mark Keel said, "Today is the direct result of a multi-year, complex and thorough investigation by dedicated public servants, committed to making our state safer." Mark M. Zito, special agent in charge of HSI Carolinas, said, "These organizations bring drugs, guns and violence into our communities, and we're not going to allow them to operate here unchecked." State Grand Jury Division chief attorney S. Creighton Waters said: "Operation Last Stand is State Grand Jury doing what State Grand Jury does best – bringing multi-jurisdictional partnerships together to punch harder together than we ever could individually."
The North Charleston raid
A key element of the operation was a raid conducted in the early morning hours of Sunday, February 8, 2026, at an unsanctioned nightclub in North Charleston. That raid involved Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Charleston Field Office, SLED, the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, and other law enforcement partners. According to Live 5 News WCSC, the raid led to the arrest of 86 people, including 79 administrative arrests of illegal immigrants and seven criminal arrests. Four trafficking victims were identified, and one juvenile was discovered and turned over to relatives. Officers seized firearms, 45 grams of cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and 347 grams of marijuana during the raid.
The investigation identified international narco-terrorist cartels and gangs trafficking narcotics predominantly to the Charleston area, with the pipeline historically responsible for hundreds of kilos of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl brought from Mexico through southern border states. Multi-state enforcement operations were conducted in South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and Florida by agencies including HSI, SLED, CCSO, Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, Berkeley's County Sheriff's Office, Summerville PD, SCDNR, and SCDC OIG. According to Live 5 News WCSC, last week's operations seized several kilograms of narcotics, including cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine, and 33 firearms, including machine guns.
Political and legal context
The announcement comes months after a Charleston-based federal grand jury indicted 26 people in a long-running drug trafficking investigation, including 14 charged with trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl, as reported by the Charleston Post and Courier. That earlier investigation traced street-level narcotics sales to suppliers in Atlanta and Mexico, starting with FBI and local police probes into North Charleston gangs.
At the press conference, officials including Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie, Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis, and Summerville Police Chief Doug Wright were expected to attend, along with state grand jury prosecutor Creighton Waters and representatives from the Department of Homeland Security. Details of the new state grand jury indictments and arrests were not yet available at the time of the announcement, though the Post & Courier noted the story was developing and would be updated.