State Sen. Leland Yee arrested amid public corruption raid

State Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco was arrested Wednesday as part of a public corruption probe after a series of raids by FBI and gang task force officials Wednesday, a law enforcement official told The Times.

Yee was taken to federal court in San Francisco, where a hearing is expected this afternoon. The exact charges were not clear. An FBI spokesman confirmed the arrest to the Associated Press. A source confirmed it to The Times.

FBI agents searched Yee’s state Senate office Wednesday morning but declined to comment to The Times on the nature of their investigation. News photos showed Yee, a Democrat who is also running to be California’s secretary of state, in the backseat of a patrol car.

Dan Lieberman, Yee’s press secretary, told The Times his office would not comment on the FBI raids, which were reportedly linked to the arrest Wednesday morning of Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.

Representatives for the U.S. attorney’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr described the raids to KCBS as “massive.”

“Hundreds of officers are involved in this,” he said.

Among the locations being searched by authorities Wednesday was the Ghee Kung Tong Supreme Lodge belonging to the Chinese Freemasons on Spofford Street in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. An FBI evidence response team also searched a building in the 1700 block of Hyde Street.

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