Law enforcement officers from agencies across California busted a multimillion-dollar fencing operation that was amassing piles of valuable items ripped off in auto burglaries and retail thefts in San Francisco, officials announced Thursday.

The unprecedented haul of seized loot was estimated to have a value of more than $2.5 million and consisted of laptops, smartphones, cameras and other valuable electronics, along with luxury handbags and even small-time scores like Tide pods and Axe body spray.

The bust offers a glimpse into the complex criminal organizations that drive demand for stolen goods in San Francisco, where property crime rates are the highest in the country and auto burglaries remain at epidemic levels, even though the numbers have been trending down after reaching an all-time high of 31,000 reported cases in 2017.

“What creates an incentive to break into cars and to break into homes is if you can quickly turn what’s stolen into money,” interim District Attorney Suzy Loftus said at a news conference announcing the raids. “A fencing operation makes that possible. It really fuels the property crime that we’re seeing in San Francisco.”

The bust, dubbed Operation Focus Lens, was led by the district attorney’s office and involved roughly 100 officers from agencies that include the California Highway Patrol, the San Francisco Police Department and the state Department of Justice.

Loftus and other agency heads, including San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott and Chief Ernie Sanchez of the CHP’s Golden Gate Division, displayed some of the stolen property during Thursday’s announcement. Piles of Apple laptops and smartphones, Nikon and Canon cameras, and Gucci and Coach handbags covered tables set up in a large conference room inside the district attorney’s office.

“People are coming here from all over the world and it really sickens me when people come here to visit our great city and they get victimized,” Scott said. “It breaks your heart. We want to send a message to the people that are doing this that we’re here and we’re going to work together and we’re never going to stop pursuing justice.”

Thirty search warrants were served this week after investigators identified locations for some of the hot items. In at least one case, they tracked stolen property by noting the high number of packages being shipped out of state from one location. Officers in another case raided a storage facility packed with around $750,000 worth of still-tagged clothing, which is believed to have been taken from city retailers. Another seizure targeted an electronic chop shop where computers, electronics and smartphones were being disassembled and sold for parts, officials said.

Investigators suspect an online front processed a high volume of the stolen goods.

Many of the smartphones seized had been wrapped in aluminum foil, an “anti-surveillance” technique used to obscure their locations, Loftus said. She added that the cases remain under investigation and to “stay tuned” for information about possible arrests.

The operation is the latest of three conducted by the multiagency team of law enforcement officers. The group is spearheaded by the district attorney’s Crime Strategies Unit and received funding last year after being assembled by former District Attorney George Gascón.

In December 2018, Gascón announced Operaton Wrecking Ball, an eight-month investigation that yielded 40 fugitive suspects and at least $300,000 in stolen items. In October, Loftus announced Operation Tangled Web, an auto-burglary “strike force” seeking to combat car break-ins by focusing on residential hot spots and commercial corridors during the holiday season.

Authorities are now working to identify where the goods were lifted from to try and reunite some property with the rightful owners.

Some stolen items still had price tags, showing where they came from. Investigators are using that information, along with video from the 375 cameras in San Francisco’s Union Square, to continue piecing together cases.

Karin Flood, executive director of the Union Square Business Improvement District, said the evidence shows what an “incredible loss” local merchants have suffered “as these thefts become more and more brazen.”

“Today is hopefully a new day with this bust, and we are so grateful for this incredible collaboration of law enforcement,” she said.

The district attorney’s office is asking for the public’s help in returning stolen property. Anyone who has a way to identify their property, such as a serial number, can call 628-652-4343.

“It would be great for the holidays if we could get some folks back some things that were taken from them,” Loftus said. “We’re also signaling to folks that are making retail and auto burglaries their primary way of doing business that San Francisco is taking that seriously and we’re doing everything we can to prevent that crime.”

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky