More Arrests Announced by SF District Attorney Boudin in Crackdown on Organized Retail Theft

By Vanguard Staff

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – More people have been arrested and charged in San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s crackdown on organized retail theft, Boudin announced Friday here.

Operation ABC has arrested and charged Allala Mouaizi and an arrest warrant issued for Said Mahtout, who were allegedly purchasing stolen goods from Nordstrom out of a San Francisco Zain Liquors store, said Boudin

Mouaizi is charged with four felony counts of attempted receiving or buying stolen property and Mahtout charged with one count of attempted possession of stolen property, a misdemeanor.

Boudin explained Operation ABC emerged out of a partnership between the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the California Alcohol Beverage Control, the San Francisco Police Department, and Nordstrom’s Loss Prevention.

The DA’s Office said the current case investigation began in March of 2022, when “the California Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) received a tip about the suspects from the San Francisco Police Department and Nordstrom’s loss prevention team.”

The DA’s Office noted that “ABC deployed an undercover agent to sell stolen goods to the suspects on two separate occasions. Once ABC established that the suspects were indeed buying stolen goods from inside their place of work, ABC reached out to the District Attorney’s SIU unit to further investigate and prosecute the case.”

“I am proud of the work of the District Attorney’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit for leading this successful organized retail theft operation,” said District Attorney Boudin. “Our partnership with the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control has helped identify and hold accountable the people coordinating organized retail theft crimes in San Francisco.”

“ABC is proud to work closely with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office during this ongoing investigation,” said ABC Director Eric Hirata “Governor Newsom has a plan to devote $225 million to provide more resources to local law enforcement and $30 million to local prosecutors to combat organized retail crime and hold perpetrators accountable.”

The DA’s Office noted DA Boudin created the District Attorney’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit in April 2021 to combat complex crimes like organized retail theft, explaining, “The SIU conducts vertical investigations of organized retail crime operations, burglary rings, and other complex organized crimes, and prosecutes cases resulting from those operations.”

The office added, “The mission of the unit is to disrupt organized fencing networks that are driving retail thefts and hold those who commit these crimes accountable.”

The District Attorney’s Operation Focus Lens and Operation Wrecking Ball claims its garnered eight arrests and prosecutions or arrest warrants last year. Operation ABC of the District Attorney’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit said it’s conducting multiple other operations to combat organized retail theft, and other “confidential operations remain ongoing.”