Refrigerated Trailer for Rent in Sumter, SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Three suspects in Sumter County and one in Richland County are charged with money laundering for cartels after a years-long investigation by multiple agencies.

In Sumter County, Caspin Powers Adachi, 23, Fnu Naimullah, 32, and Nasir Ullah, 27, were arrested on Jan. 23, following arrest warrants issued on January 14.

Law enforcement did not name the person in Richland County.

On Jan. 23, authorities from multiple agencies served search warrants for money laundering at two businesses on Broad Street and houses on Rhododendron Street and Currituck Drive. These buildings were said to have been used by Powers Adachi, Naimullah, and Ullah.

According to authorities, another suspect was arrested at the same time in Richland County for money laundering charges with assistance from the DEA, SLED, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

SLED, Sumter County Sherriff’s Office (SCSO), and DEA Special Agents also charged Chinese national Puquan Huang, who was arrested in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and will be extradited to South Carolina.

The arrests come after a multi-year investigation by the DEA, with assistance from federal, state, and local authorities. Deputies say the investigation led to Sumter and concluded with the arrests of four suspects with the aid of SCSO. This investigation focused on international and domestic money laundering for Mexico’s two dominant drug cartels – the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CING) and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Investigators believe the suspects worked directly with cartel-affiliated Chinese money launderers operating in both Georgia and South Carolina and had been doing so for multiple years.

Authorities confirm Ullah will face additional charges in Richland County after being arrested in October 2024 while smuggling about $180,000. Ullah and Naimullah’s father, Mohammad Azam Khan, remains an active fugitive and is believed to be in Dubai.

Deputies transported Adachi, Naimullah, and Ullah to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center. Following bond hearings, Adachi and Ullah posted $20,000 surety bonds, and Naimullah posted a $200,000.00 bond. All three suspects were released, according to authorities.

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Highest-rated Mexican restaurants in the Sumter area by diners

Just like cuisine from any country, Mexican food is not monolithic. It isn't just combo plates and tacos. (Not that there's anything wrong with that style of food; it's delicious and is responsible for popularizing Mexican food in the United States.) But Mexican food means more than that.

It reflects Mexico's diverse population—shaped by waves of immigration—and has proliferated throughout the U.S., showcasing the cuisine in all its complexity and regionality. Mexico has 32 distinct regional styles of cooking, and thanks to immigrant chefs and the rise of promising culinarians of Mexican descent looking to share their signature dishes, Indigenous foodways, and ingredients from various regions, diners are reframing their idea of "Mexican food."

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center analysis of SafeGraph data, 1 in 10 restaurants in the U.S. serve Mexican food, and nearly 9 out of 10 U.S. counties have at least one Mexican restaurant. The analysis also reveals that California and Texas are home to a majority of the Mexican American population and together host 2 out of 5 Mexican restaurants in the country.

These findings serve as a testament to the influence Mexican cuisine has had and continues to have in America. Which begs the question: Where does one go for the best old-school Mexican restaurants, loncheras slinging tacos out of a half-window, and innovative modern Mexican food pushing culinary boundaries?

To help you out, Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated Mexican restaurants in the Sumter area based on diners' reviews on Yelp as of February 2025. Restaurants with at least 20 reviews tagged as "Mexican" on Yelp within a 10-kilometer radius of Sumter were included. As a result, some restaurants featured may serve other food items besides Mexican food. Also, in an effort to highlight independent businesses and local chains, those with more than 50 locations nationally, based on the Yelp data, were not included.

Keep reading to see if your favorite Mexican spot made the list or to discover a new restaurant to try!

You may also like: Highest-rated barbecue restaurants in the Sumter area by diners

A South Carolina farmer struggles to keep eggs on the shelf as bird flu wipes out flocks elsewhere, stores run dry, and desperate customers flood his shop.

SUMTER, S.C. — Egg prices in 2025 have surged dramatically recently, driven by avian flu outbreaks and seasonal declines in egg-laying activity among chickens and ducks during winter.

The rising cost of eggs and people looking for alternative sources are bringing in more money, but the product is in short supply for one local farmer in Sumter.

"Anywhere you go, $7 to $8. I would have never in my lifetime, I really wouldn't have thought that we would be here, but we're here," said The Farm Store co-owner Mike Dellinger.

Dellinger said he's being hit hard by the ripple effect of the H5N1 bird flu.

Commercial poultry farms are being impacted, wiping out hundreds of chicken flocks used for production at big-box grocery stores, driving customers to Mike's local store.

"That shortens the supply chain and we've seen the grocery stores become short, and now that they've become short, we see folks coming through our doors that we've never seen come through the doors by eggs," Dellinger said.

He has to limit customers to two dozen eggs per purchase because he can't keep up with demand. He also sells duck eggs and quail eggs.

Other factors are also added challenges.

"We've seen prices of the feed go up. We've seen prices of the egg cartons go up," Dellinger said.

And Mike's still waiting on a new poultry flock.

"This time we would have switched out, about December. We're already what, two months or a month and a half delayed. Looks like it may be into the month of April before we'll have fresh hens, so not only is all this concern about eggs being short in the grocery stores, but our eggs, even on the local level, because we can't get replacement birds," Dellinger said.

According to Jennifer Tyrrell, community science and research program manager at Audubon South Carolina, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has moved from wild birds to domestic flocks.

"Avian flu is not a common occurrence, and it has not been in our area for a very, very long time until recently. This more recent outbreak, over the past few years is now just happening. It's here. It's here to stay, which is unfortunate, but it's something we're going to be dealing with for a long time because it is so prevalent and so spread out now," Tyrrell said.

Tyrrell said the avian flu virus often travels with physical contact, so it travels more easily within flocks and with more social birds like geese or gulls.

"In birds, it is usually some sort of neurological issue, they can act a little strange and they just, they usually die pretty quickly once they contract it," Tyrrell said.

Oftentimes, these birds pass the sickness quickly, Tyrrell said.

"Typically, when there's an infection in a poultry population, it's safe to assume that every bird is infected or will soon be infected. And so unfortunately, a lot of them just have to be euthanized because it's just going to continue spreading and get worse," Tyrrell said.

But locals like Mike remain hopeful.

"Better days will come," Dellinger said.

Dellinger said he hopes things change for the poultry industry by April or May.

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Federal agents bust a multi-national drug and money-laundering network involving Mexican gangs and Chinese launderers in Sumter, uncovering $15M operation.

Credit: KUSA

SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — State, local and federal agencies have made multiple arrests in what they describe as a multi-national drug and money-laundering network based in Sumter County.

The Sumter County Sheriff's Office said 23-year-old Caspin Powers Adachi, 32-year-old Fnu Naimullah and 27-year-old Nasir Ullah, all of Sumter, were arrested on charges tied to an operation that laundered drug money tied to Mexican gangs with help from Chinese money launderers, sending items to the Middle East and China.

The sheriff's office said the multi-year investigation was headed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from several state and local agencies and focused on money laundering for Mexico's Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CING) and the Sinaloa Cartel.

On Jan. 23, local law enforcement assisted state and federal agents in serving warrants for money laundering at two Borad Street businesses and at homes on Rhododendron Street and Currituck Drive that authorities allege Adachi, Naimullah and Ullah used. Another unnamed associate was also arrested in Richland County on money laundering charges.

The sheriff's office said investigators believe the suspects worked for years with cartel-affiliated Chinese money launderers operating in Georgia and South Carolina. The Sumter operation is accused of receiving more than $15 million in drug cash and using that money to buy a large amount of electronics for export, primarily to China and countries in the Middle East. Authorities said the money was mainly from the sale of fentanyl by Mexican gang drug dealers operating in the United States.

Drug raids uncovered an estimated $230,000 in cash, three vehicles, 11 firearms and jewelry "totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars." Another suspect, Chinese national Puquan Huang, was arrested in Gwinnett County, Georgia and will be brought back to South Carolina.

In Sumter County, Adachi, Naimullah and Ullah face charges of knowingly attempting or conducting a financial transaction with proceeds of unlawful activity to promote or conceal for transactions that total or exceed $100,000 in a 12-month period. This is a felony charge. The Sumter County Sheriff's Office said all three were taken to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. Adachi and Ullah posted $20,000 surety bonds, and Naimullah posted a $200,000 bond.

Investigators said Ullah faces more charges in Richland County after an October 2024 arrest for allegedly smuggling about $180,000. Ullah and Naimullah's father, Mohammad Azam Khan, is considered a fugitive and is possibly in Dubai, authorities said.

The South Carolina Department of Public Health revoked the facility's license due to a reported 'history of non-compliance.'

SUMTER, S.C. — Families of residents at Carriage House of Sumter, also known as Patriot Living, are scrambling to find new homes for their loved ones following the facility’s sudden closure.

Angela Riles-Irby, whose relative resides at the facility, said she was shocked to learn about the closure through word of mouth rather than official communication.

“We never got anything in writing, we never got a letter, no type of paperwork—everything was verbally,” Riles-Irby said.

News19 made multiple attempts to contact the management team but could not reach them.

According to a Healthcare Quality Enforcement Report from the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH), state officials visited the facility six times between April and September and documented numerous violations.

These included:

The state health department revoked the facility's license due to what it described as a “history of non-compliance." The full report is available online.

“That’s really concerning, and that saddens me,” Riles-Irby said. “He’s been there all that time, a whole year now and all of this was going on and we never knew.”

"My god, it just breaks my heart; I'm speechless; I just don't know what else to say," she added.

The DPH said the facility’s license will remain in effect until the last resident is relocated or until March 19—whichever comes first.

The South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) said it was working with other organizations and state agencies to help relocate residents from all four locations impacted by the closures, including the one in Sumter. Additional information about adult protective services provided by DSS is available at dss.sc.gov.

Details related to the release and transfer of residents from Community Residential Care Facilities, including the notification of family members or sponsors, are available in the South Carolina Department of Public Health's Standards for Community Residential Care Facilities under section 906. It states that:

South Carolina's Bill of Rights for residents of long-term care facilities can also be found here.

Residents and families can lodge complaints against licensed care facilities by visiting this DPH website.