BEIJING - Chinese police had 331 criminal suspects repatriated from abroad in 2012 under joint efforts with their foreign counterparts, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Tuesday.

The police also repatriated 25 fugitive suspects back to relevant countries last year, the ministry said in a report.

In a high-profile case, Myanmar drug lord Naw Kham and his armed drug trafficking gang were busted last year in a joint operation conducted by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand following the brutal murder of 13 Chinese sailors.

The gang is believed to have engaged in drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, looting and other crimes along the Mekong River for many years.

Naw Kham was sentenced to death late last year.

To boost international cooperation, the ministry sent 37 groups of police officers abroad for investigation and evidence collection in 2012. It also helped 21 groups of police officers from overseas to collect evidence in China, the ministry's figures show.

Chinese police conducted 27 joint investigations and operations with countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the United States last year, involving major transnational criminal cases concerning gun smuggling and telecom scams, according to the report.

The ministry will further boost international law enforcement cooperation in the future to crack down on crimes including terrorism, drug and human trafficking, telecom fraud, gun smuggling, and organizing gambling and prostitution, the report said.