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Federal immigration agents conducted a raid on a cartel-run nightclub in South Carolina early on Sunday, arresting over 70 undocumented migrants, including a Honduran fugitive wanted for murder, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Alamo, a clandestine nightclub in Summerville, was crowded at approximately 3 a.m. when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered the premises, seizing firearms, large amounts of cash, seven potential victims of trafficking, and a missing juvenile. Local law enforcement revealed that teenagers as young as 13 were found consuming alcohol inside the club.
The nightclub’s owner, Benjamin Reyna-Flores, is suspected to be affiliated with the Los Zetas Cartel, now referred to as Cártel del Noreste (CDN), which was officially labeled a terrorist organization by the Trump Administration in February, according to Homeland Security. He is now facing charges at both the state and federal levels.
Federal immigration agents raided a cartel-operated nightclub in South Carolina early Sunday, arresting more than 70 illegal migrants, including a Honduran fugitive wanted for homicide, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster echoed McLaughlin comments and said that Tren de Aragua gang members were also arrested.
“This is what years of open borders got us, but now things have changed,” McMaster posted on X. “We will continue to have more investigations like this one to rid South Carolina of these criminals.”
Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie said law enforcement has been gathering information in this case since November, when repeated noise complaints led deputies to investigate further.
Deputies and agents entered the nightclub with 116 arrest warrants, both criminal and immigration-related. Ritchie said, per WCSC, that they were able to serve 80 warrants. Deputies said some were citizens and others were non-citizens.
Among those arrested were two “high-level” cartel members, a number Ritchie expects to grow.
Deputy Administrator Eric Watson, meanwhile, described the scene as a “cartel afterparty.”
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster praised the operation and said that Tren de Aragua gang members were also arrested. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Two witnesses, David Herrera and Destiny Tinoco, said the nightclub filled up with agents and deputies shouting commands, some inside translating the words to Spanish.
“I saw dancing, I saw people smiling, having a good time and then boom. It all went to chaos,” Herrera told WCSC. “A bunch of agents from multiple agencies came in, pointing guns at people, barking orders, telling people to get the “bleep” down, put your hands up. Basically, detained the whole building for, like, an hour and a half, maybe two hours. People were coming up to them, saying, ‘I have kids at home.’”
Ritchie, meanwhile, said some of those arrested face charges for assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, possession of controlled substances and possession of a firearm.
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