South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster posted Monday about a cooperative law enforcement bust in the Charleston area early Sunday, "This is what years of open borders got us."
Sheriff's deputies and federal agents made 80 arrests at an illegal nightclub in Ladson in the early morning hours on Sunday. Ladson is an urban community in metropolitan Charleston, about 15 miles northwest of Charleston's downtown area.
Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie told The Charleston City Paper that at least two "high-level" drug cartel members were among those arrested, along with an international murder suspect. Deputies rescued a missing child held at the bar and discovered several human trafficking victims who are receiving assistance.
The case began last November as a noise complaint but quickly grew into something much bigger. The previous county sheriff pulled the department out of a cooperative program with federal law enforcement in 2021, but Ritchie rejoined earlier this year.
Federal agents' involvement helped to bring the case to a head over the weekend with the bust at a nightclub operating without a liquor license. McMaster stressed that this kind of situation should never have been allowed to develop. He blamed the former Biden administration's open border policy. "This is what years of open borders got us, but now things have changed. We will continue to have more investigations like this one to rid South Carolina of these criminals."
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson agreed. He told reporters at a Monday news briefing that South Carolina is "as much a border state as Arizona." Wilson said alarming rates of drug and human trafficking in South Carolina need to be reversed. "The policies at the top matter," he said. "But it's not just the policies at the Southern border. It's the law enforcement and policies here in South Carolina that matter, too."
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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