A record number of illegal workers have been arrested in a three-day Immigration Department operation ending today.

Officers netted 107 offenders in the Hong Kong-wide operation, which included 82 suspected illegal workers. It was the biggest number of illegal worker arrests in a single department operation. Twenty-five local employers were also taken in and eight suspected fake ID cards were seized.

Fifty-nine locations in Mong Kok, Chai Wan, Hung Hom, To Kwa Wan, Lam Tin, Yuen Long, Yau Ma Tei and Western were raided. They included restaurants, food stalls, markets, construction sites, hair salons, unlicensed cooked food centres and flats under renovation.

Thirty-six men and 46 women aged 19 to 65 were arrested for breaching their conditions of stay. They were mostly from Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan and Jiangsu. Seventeen men and eight women were suspected of being the employers of illegal workers.

Visitors are not allowed to work, paid or unpaid, without permission from the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and two years' prison. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalty.

It is also an offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is a fine of $350,000 and three years' prison.