About 73,000 people were arrested in the country last year on suspicion of trafficking drugs or other drug-related crimes, 7.7 percent more than 2007, the Ministry of Public Security said on its website yesterday.

Police across the country handled 62,000 cases of drug crimes last year, 9.2 percent higher than in 2007, which led to a crackdown on 1,565 drugs producing and trafficking gangs, the notice said, quoting the National Narcotics Control Commission.

Authorities also destroyed 244 drug-manufacturing factories and units in 2008, an 86.2-percent increase from the previous year. A total of 4.3 tons of heroin, 5.5 tons of "ice" or methamphetamine, and 5 tons of ketamine were seized in the country last year, it said.