San Francisco Uncovers Gambling Dens Fronting as Convenience Stores: ‘Magnets for Drug Activity’

Several convenience stores in San Francisco’s notorious Tenderloin district have been providing cover for illegal activity, city leaders announced Thursday.

The issue surrounds secret casinos, drug dens, and stolen merchandise being resold, the New York Post reported Monday.

Officials have been working to crack down on the nine sites that fronted as convenience stores, City Attorney David Chiu’s office announced on Thursday.

His office said the discovery of the sites comes as “the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is looking to expand the nighttime safety ordinance that prohibits certain retail stores in high-traffic, drug market areas from operating late at night. The ordinance has been a key enforcement tool for the City Attorney’s Office in identifying and shutting down businesses that house substantial illegal activity.”