In a surprising twist, local law enforcement has cracked down on another fencing operation aiding car thefts in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. I’ve been to this Quickly boba shop before. The place seemed run-down and accepted only cash, but who would’ve thought it was a front for criminal activities?
S.F. boba shop was a front for an international car-burglary operation, D.A. Boudin says
An unassuming boba tea shop in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood is suspected to be a front for an international fencing operation, where street-level car burglars sell stolen goods before the property is shipped off to countries as far away as Vietnam and China, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Quoc Le, 41, whose wife owns a Quickly bubble tea cafe on Larkin Street, was arrested following a sprawling investigation by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office that targeted higher-level criminals who profit off the city’s smash-and-grab epidemic. Le’s wife was not charged with a crime, prosecutors said.
The probe leading to Le’s arrest, which is dubbed Operation Auto Pilot, included bait cars, GPS tracking devices and undercover surveillance, and led to the recovery of more than 1,000 laptops, phones, cameras and other devices from locations allegedly associated with Le, officials said.
Source: SF Chronicle
nterestingly, this isn’t the first time a business in the Tenderloin has been linked to a fencing operation. A local camera shop was previously implicated as well.
Tenderloin Camera Shop Was Front For Retail Theft Fencing Operation, According to DA’s Office
Camera Heaven at 746 Larkin Street, in the Little Saigon sub-neighborhood of the Tenderloin, has four stars on Yelp and can claim to have earned a few fans among camera geeks going back a decade and a half. But according to the DA’s Office, via its investigation dubbed Operation Focus Lens, the shop was a front for reselling stolen clothing items pilfered from retail stores around San Francisco. And one of the arrest warrants is for an individual who resides in Vietnam.
In total, $2 million worth of allegedly stolen goods have been recovered to date.
Source: sfist