Liu Yuejin, deputy director of the ministry's narcotics bureau, told a news conference in Beijing that the agency has identified 85 key drug lords who have organized drug smuggling operations into the Chinese mainland from overseas.

Fourteen were caught last year and 36 were apprehended this year.

A police crackdown uncovered 36,400 drug-related crimes and led to the arrest of 45,100 suspects in the first 11 months of this year, the public security ministry said.

Police also seized 4.79 tons of heroin, 1.52 tons of opium, 4.9 tons of crystal methamphetamine, 329,000 tablets of ecstasy, 1.5 tons of ketamine and 267.5 tons of chemicals used to produce drugs, Liu said.

"We have been successful in this year's fight against drug-related crimes," Liu said.

China invested 110 million yuan (US$13.75 million) this year to improve the drug-fighting capabilities of police, border, railway, aviation, customs and postal departments across the country.

Help from outside was also instrumental in carrying out the campaign.

"Cooperation from authorities in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines and other countries helped us catch 50 major drug smugglers over the past two years," Liu said.

At yesterday's news conference, the official spotlighted a joint Chinese-Philippine police effort that broke up a major international drug ring and led to the seizure of 350 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," and a ton of ephredrine, a chemical used to produce the drug.

Fifteen suspects were captured in China and five in the Philippines, Liu said. Police also seized nearly 10,000 cases of chemicals and a large quantity of equipment in a drug factory in the Philippines.

"The case is a good example of international anti-drug cooperation," Liu said. "In addition to Philippine authorities, police from China's Fujian, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hong Kong also took part in the investigation."

In September, police from the two countries set up a joint investigative team to track down an alleged drug smuggler named Shao Chuntian, who was wanted by police in China and in several Southeast Asian countries.

In November, police said they learned that Shao had smuggled a ton of ephedrine to China and set up a plant in the Philippines to produce "ice."

On December 19, Philippine police captured three Chinese suspects at Manila's airport and two Philippine suspects in the plant. At the same time, Chinese police seized Shao Chuntian and another 14 Chinese suspects in Quanzhou in Fujian Province.