Drug use, illegal vendors return hours after overnight SFPD raid in Mission District

By Lauren Toms

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — At the corner of 16th Street and Mission, a well-known hub for illicit activity, San Francisco police officers moved in late Wednesday night, conducting a raid aimed at clearing out illegal vending and drug sales.

But within hours, the familiar scenes returned — street vendors selling unregulated goods and open drug use resumed as if nothing had happened.

Ram Strestha, a nearby store owner who asked not to show his face, watched the activity come back. He said the quick return of illegal activity was frustrating, but not surprising.

“Everybody’s coming over here. So, what’s the difference? They clean up one place, but the other place pop ups. And it makes it hard for our business to run,” Strestha said.

The overnight raid is part of a growing effort by law enforcement to crack down on illegal vending and drug sales after dark. According to the San Francisco Police Department, officers made four arrests and seized nearly 30 grams of narcotics during the operation.

Strestha acknowledged that police presence has improved the common scenes slightly in recent days, but said one sweep isn’t enough to create lasting change.

“Right now, at least they stop by and say everything is okay. Or I see they do little bit patrolling, but they need to do more often,” he said.

The effort at 16th and Mission is part of a broader push by police to target drug and crime hotspots across the city. However, some argue that these operations only displace users and dealers, shifting the problem to other neighborhoods.

Police Chief Bill Scott said the key to meaningful change will be maintaining a consistent law enforcement presence.

“Sometimes people try to wait us out. They know our staffing shortages. When we’re there, things look nice and clean. As soon as we leave, they come back. The key is going to be we have to consistently deploy resources to prevent the disorder in the first place. And if there is disorder, then we enforce the law. So yes, our efforts and our commitment is going to be consistency,” Scott said.

That approach was on display just a week earlier at Jefferson Square Park, where officers made 86 arrests and seized more than a pound of narcotics during a Feb. 27 operation.

But according to the District Attorney’s office, of those arrested, only 11 were charged with misdemeanor drug offenses and just two were charged with felonies.

“The majority of people encountered by SFPD in Jefferson Square at the scene were cited to appear in court later this month. Those cases will be individually reviewed, and we expect to make charging decisions prior to their arraignment dates,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Each case presented to our office is individually assessed, and although the police may have had probable cause to arrest, we only charge cases where we have enough evidence to meet our burden of proof.”

For people like Strestha, who live and work at the heart of these troubled areas, the enforcement efforts often feel temporary — a brief reprieve before the cycle begins again.

“It makes it a bit different, but not a lot,” he said.

Strestha even wrote a letter to Mayor Daniel Lurie, pleading for more help outside his store. On Thursday, Lurie told reporters this is only the beginning of the city’s renewed efforts to confront the issue.

“There is displacement,” said Lurie. “We understand that, but we are not going to tolerate people moving from one place to the other, because we’re going to be following them everywhere they go.”

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