3 men laundered $30 million in drug money in four SC counties, prosecutors say

Three men have been indicted for running a $30 million money laundering operation using drug proceeds from Sumter County and other South Carolina communities, interim U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews announced on Thursday.

Sumter residents Nasir Ullah, 28, and Naim Ullah, 32, and Georgia resident Puquan Huang, 49, were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. The case was “one of the largest professional money laundering operations” in South Carolina, Andrews said.

The three men are accused of collecting money from drug sales throughout York, Sumter, Richland and Charleston counties and other parts of the Southeast, according to the indictment.

The defendants stored the money at two business properties in Sumter County — one on Currituck Drive and the other on Rhododendron Street, according to the indictment. Nasir Ullah, Naim Ullah and Huang then used the drug money to purchase electronic devices and ship them to China, the Middle East and other places to be resold.

The suspects used encrypted communications platforms, such as “WeChat” and “WhatsApp,” to discuss the money laundering operations, according to the indictment.

“Money laundering is the backbone of criminal enterprise,” Andrews said. “It enables drug trafficking organizations to purchase and distribute fentanyl and other drugs to devastating effect.”

On Oct. 9, $177,837 was seized from Nasir Ullah during a routine traffic stop in Richland County. Law enforcement officers also seized $16,000 on Nov. 20 in York County.

The money taken in Richland County could buy 7 kilograms of powdered fentanyl, said Michael Tooley, the assistant special agent in charge for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in South Carolina. One kilogram of fentanyl can kill 500,000 people, he said.

The organization the defendants worked for laundered drug proceeds made from the distribution of fentanyl and cocaine, Tooley said.

“Seven kilograms of fentanyl has the potential to kill three and a half million people — more than half of the population of South Carolina,” Tooley said.

The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The DEA’s Charleston, South Carolina Resident Office is investigating the case, with assistance from the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit; DEA’s Office of Special Intelligence, Document and Media Exploitation Unit; DEA’s offices in Columbia, South Carolina, and Atlanta; the FBI’s offices in Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; the U.S. Air Force, Office of Special Investigations; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office; the South Carolina Highway Patrol; the Fort Mill Police Department; the York County Sheriff’s Office; the North Charleston Police Department; the Mount Pleasant Police Department; and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, according to a news release.

This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 5:01 PM.