A total of 170 salespersons and 12 businesses were issued cease-and-desist orders in a number of counties in Florida as agents from the Division of Consumer Services and Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement cracked down on illegal telemarketing groups.

State investigators from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspected at least 19 offices in Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties. They found that more than 200 violations were being committed and issued almost $108,000 in citations as the result of consumers complaining about shady telemarketing businesses.

The department had been working closely with the Orlando Police Department to hunt down illegal telemarketing groups in Florida.  Spokesman for the department, Sterling Ivey, however says that the crackdowns are in no way connected to police raids conducted in Orlando recently. As the year began, Orlando police had gone on a raiding spree on alleged telemarketers preying on timeshare owners.