San Francisco City Attorney Goes After Illegal Gambling
To this end, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has said that his office is now targeting convenience stores in the Tenderloin District, which investigators believe to be a front for illegal gambling businesses.
All enforcement actions come after careful surveillance of the venues in question and involved undercover operations on the part of the police.
Convenience Stores as Front for Illegal Gambling in San Francisco
Chiu has already filed lawsuits against several owners and managers looking to dismantle their operations in one fell swoop. The anti-gambling sentiment is strong, and part of the city attorney’s political campaign is to shutter such establishments.
In a statement, the attorney focused on the social ills such businesses bred and the negative impact they had on neighborhoods.
“They have been a blight on the neighborhood for too long and are fronts for gambling dens and fencing operations. These two stores are endangering the safety, health, and welfare of their Tenderloin neighbors,” a statement by the office said.
The stores were also named – the SF Discount Market at 238 Leavenworth Street and the Tenderloin Market and Deli at 200 Leavenworth Street. Both properties were investigated by an undercover South Francisco Police Department officer of the law before the launch of on-site operations.
“San Francisco will not tolerate this kind of illegal activity in the Tenderloin or any other neighborhood in the city,“ police chief Bill Scott similarly chimed in. During the raids against the venues, police seized illegal gambling machines, drugs, and other communications and electronic devices used to facilitate the illegal operations.
Illegal Gambling as the Breeding Ground for Crime
Police have been looking to crack down on these establishments, which have proliferated despite the high risk of running them. Many of the establishments have been similarly linked to the distribution of drug paraphernalia used to smoke methamphetamine and crack cocaine.
The police statements have mostly focused on the nature and location of the business, but not the owners, the number of arrests conducted, or the people who have been apprehended or investigated in these cases.
Previously, an illegal gambling business was busted in Porterville, Tulare County, California, leading to the arrests of six people and the seizure of illegal gambling equipment, drugs, and stolen credit cards.
Meanwhile, police in San José arrested a pair of men for running an illegal gambling and drug den from a home on Meadow Glen Way. Once again, a variety of illegal items were obtained during the search, including a firearm with deleted serial numbers.
