Another 16 with levels between 251mcg and 400mcg were hit with infringement notices, instant fines of $200 each and 50 demerit points.
Police also stopped three disqualified drivers — also due to appear in court — and a number of infringement notices were issued for driving licence breaches.
The latest Eastern Police Traffic Alcohol Group operation took place last Thursday-Saturday.
"The results were extremely disappointing both in terms of the total number of drink-drivers apprehended and the high levels of intoxication exhibited by many of them," Sergeant Steven Murray said.
"Local drivers have failed to heed the warnings and continue to drive under the influence."
The team is deploying more than ever so the chances of being caught are increasing, he said.
"We just want drivers to stop making bad decisions. These drivers pose a considerable risk to themselves and other road users."
Drink-driving testing has been in force in New Zealand almost 50 years, with police previously having to prove those at the wheel were "drunk-in-charge" or driving under the influence of drink or drugs.
Blood-alcohol tests were introduced in 1969, with an excess breath-alcohol threshold of 100mg of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
Breath-testing was introduced in December 1978 with a threshold of 500mcg, which was lowered to 400mcg in 1988, when lower limits were first introduced for under-20s.
Around the time blood tests were introduced, the road toll rose progressively from 522 in 1968 to the all-time record of 843 in 1973. Around the time breath tests were introduced and the lowering of the limit five years later the toll rose from 727 in 1988 to 755 the next year, before declining annually to 580 in 1994.
Around the introduction of the 250mcg limit, fatalities increased annually from the 50-year low of 253 in 2013 to 379 last year, and injuries increased from 11,219 in 2014 to 13,848 in the 12 months to the end of September last year.
Fuel restrictions in the 1970s global oil crisis and the lowering of the open-road speed limit are credited most with the sharp reversal in the 1970s, against estimates that had the toll continued to climb it could now have topped 1900 a year.
Napier man John Kent, who had a series of drink-drive convictions, before settling into a routine where he spends at least $20 on taxis each time he "goes out", took to Facebook yesterday to express concern about limits and told Hawke's Bay Today they "have gone too far".
He wrote in his post that "16 of these people would have been OK to drive prior to the last politically-motivated change to the law".
"They were certainly not intoxicated but simply getting home after a pint of beer. We were told the reduction in alcohol would save 150 lives per year but the road toll has rocketed since."
He said later wider social consequences had not been considered, such as people staying at home and drinking more while missing out on social contact, or drinking more at their bar or club because they wouldn't be driving home.
"They're stuffing around with our social lives. I wonder how many people die now from just drinking. It's ludicrous."
But police Eastern District prevention manager for road policing Senior Sergeant Dan Foley said alcohol and other impairment is one of the four most common factors in crashes in Hawke's Bay, along with driver distraction, excessive speed and misuse or absence of seat belts and restraints.
"Since I have been in this role every incident I have been to, or seen the effects of, has involved at least one of those factors."
Changing people's behaviour with alcohol use remains a major factor of police strategy, he said.
And with the district's Traffic Alcohol Group being now up to full strength, staff will be on the road somewhere in the district each week, he said.
"People are still thinking that they can take that unacceptable risk drinking more before jumping into a car and driving."
"We are disturbed by the fact that when we go out we still find these people and that number of 16 who are between 251 and 400 is still an awful lot." District road police manager Inspector Matt Broderick said: "The disappointment is that our renewed focus on it is catching offenders. We focus on restraints, impairment, distraction and speed (RIDS) because of the massive contribution they make to our deaths and serious injuries and we will continue to do so."