San Francisco officials announced last Thursday that the city has uncovered numerous secret drug and gambling dens masquerading as convenience stores, all located in a notorious downtown neighborhood long associated with illicit activity and homelessness.
At least nine such dens have been shut down or sued over the past 18 months in the Tenderloin, City Attorney David Chiu said.
He added that the stores engaged in a range of illegal activities, including gambling operations, selling illegal drugs, possessing firearms, trafficking in stolen goods, and violating the city’s nighttime safety ordinance, which prohibits shops from operating during late hours to deter nighttime criminal activity…