COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - State police seized three video gaming machines Saturday in a 10-county sweep of 500 businesses.

Two Chess Challenge II machines were seized in Horry County and one in Lexington County. The search for followed a week of fighting about whether the machines are illegal gambling devices.

On Friday, the state Supreme Court issued a temporary order overturning a lower court ruling that the games were legal and State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said they were subject to seizure.

Stewart said businesses had called all week asking if the games were legal.

"They began leaving the state over the last few days," Stewart said. "It appears there was a mass exodus.

"Obviously, in anticipation of possible Supreme Court action, the businesses chose to remove their machines rather than risk losing their investment."

South Carolina outlawed video gambling in 2000.

Information from: The State