Florence County law enforcement officers raided three sweepstakes parlors, Thursday afternoon.
Deputies seized more than 70 gaming machines from the businesses on South Irby Street in Florence. The machines will remain in police custody for the time being.
Communications Director for the South Carolina Attorney General's Office Bryan Stirling (http://www.scag.gov/) says they believe the machines are illegal. He says law enforcement have been rounding up the machines all over the state for the past few months.
Stirling says a hearing in front of magistrate judge will determine what will happen with the machines.
Officers say their investigation is ongoing.
"We're not going to make any charges at this particular time of course we'll have to do an investigation to make charges, if we make charges, that we make the appropriate charges and make sure that we charge the appropriate individuals," said Florence Police Chief Anson Shells.
"We have received an ever increasing number of citizen complaints about these operations," Sheriff Kenney Boone stated. "The Attorney General and SLED have determined that these businesses violate the gambling laws of South Carolina as games of chance, and we will continue to enforce the law where it applies."
The Florence County Sheriff's Department, State Law Enforcement Division and Florence Police Department assisted in the raid.
