It’s no exaggeration that one need only walk a couple blocks through the Tenderloin to purchase any illicit substance imaginable. Dealers conduct business around the clock in a counter-culture that has adapted to surveillance because it happens on the street. To most people, this is where it lives, on that thin line between public and private. But a lawsuit brought forth by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu accuses a Tenderloin convenience store of selling methamphetamine.
Milk, eggs, underground gambling, stolen phones, methamphetamine, and more
Last Wednesday, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed suit against the owners of Corner Store. This store, located at 401 Eddy Street, is implicated in the trade of illegal substances like contraband tobacco products. Most troubling, the neighborhood shop is also accused of selling meth. Chiu’s lawsuit demands that Corner Store close for at least one year for enabling criminal activity in the Tenderloin. Their official offense: “violating various state and local laws as well as California’s Unfair Competition Law."
Naturally, the store’s owners and loyal customers are pushing back against the allegations. In an interview with KTVU, one owner, who goes by J-Money, said his family owns the shop.
"We sell torches, we sell snacks, we sell clothes, speakers—that’s it,” he said. J-Money denied the rest. "We don’t sell meth. They sell meth outside.”
The Corner Store proprietors signed their lease in February 2023. Over the next two years, SFPD responded to a dozen incidents of theft, vandalism, and assault at or near the address. Even the Mayor’s Office fielded repeat complaints about the store. Multiple reports of illegal tobacco and tobacco product sales drew the attention of an undercover representative from the Department of Public Health. The representative succeeded in purchasing a tobacco vape, the sale of which has been illegal in San Francisco since 2018. Unlawful tobacco earned the Corner Store its first Notice of Violation.
The Corner Store on the southwest corner of Leavenworth and Ellis Streets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Photo by James Conrad.
Meanwhile, one Corner Store owner also owned and operated SF Discount Market nearby at 238 Leavenworth Street. Police raided SF Discount Market in 2024, acting on tips about underground gambling and the sale of stolen goods. The cops also busted Tenderloin Market & Deli down the block. Between the shops, police turned up sixteen slot machines, seventeen stolen iPhones, 83 grams of cannabis, and $16k in cash. Cops also confiscated several firearms along with cartons of cigarettes branded with out-of-state tax stamps as well as shoplifted merchandise.
“The Corner Store didn’t just promote drug activity, it became the drug dealer.”
SFPD teamed up with the California Department of Tax & Fee Administration in November 2025 and obtained a search warrant. Authorities subsequently uncovered a ghost gun, illegal tobacco products, five pounds of cannabis, and most startling, 48.1 grams of methamphetamine, as well as paraphernalia for weighing, selling, and smoking it.
“The Corner Store didn’t just promote drug activity,” said Chiu in a press release—“It became the drug dealer.” The Tenderloin is San Francisco’s most densely populated neighborhood, home for hundreds of children and families. “Families and minors rely on convenience stores, and we will not tolerate a store that sells drugs. We are asking the Court to protect the community, shut this store down immediately, and level the playing field for law-abiding small businesses. Thanks to SFPD and DPH for their vigilance and commitment to resident safety.”
The evidence looks particularly damning. It is entirely possible that this dispute might go to trial. J-Money alleges the owner of a competing convenience store is behind the raid and subsequent lawsuit. He doesn’t think the Corner Store deserves hate just because it’s popular.
Also in the KTVU interview, reporters show an employee known as Jefe a photo of some bagged illicit substance purported to be meth. He looks, then says with a chuckle, “Aw, man? Yeah… that ain't no motherfucking meth.” Jefe identified the contents as Adderall.
“It's all bullshit,” remarked a regular customer named Victor. “It ain't nothing going on. It was just family here, regular customers coming here.”
