Saturday night saw one of the largest mass fines to date when anti-triad officers raided a seafood restaurant where some 219 people, aged 19 to 75, had gathered -- ten times more than the current cap on 20 people per banquet.

A police incident report said all present were issued a spot fine after an intelligence-led operation conducted by the district's anti-triad unit.

Local media dubbed the raid a "million dollar banquet" because spot fines are HK$5,000 and the total number would have been HK$1,095,000.

Spot fines have become a fixture of Hong Kong during the pandemic with teams of officers patrolling the streets to enforce rules that are often changing and at times contradictory.

Last month the police revealed to lawmakers that they had issued nearly HK$90 million in fines to more than 21,600 people for breaching the Covid rules in the first 11 months of the last financial year.

Photos showed a crammed banquet hall with men and women sitting at dozens of circular tables. The police incident report said the 60-year-old restaurant owner surnamed Lee was arrested alongside two guests, aged 33 and 37 respectively, who they discovered were wanted by authorities.