Guangdong police, working with their counterparts in East China's Fujian province, seized more than 1.1 tons of methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice", after busting three major laboratories on May 14 and 15, according to a senior Guangdong police officer.

Another 1.2 tons of semi-finished "ice", as well as abundant raw materials, tools and equipment for producing "ice", were also seized during the operations, which were launched simultaneously in seven Guangdong cities of Shenzhen special economic zone: Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhaoqing, Shanwei and Zhuhai special economic zone, said Deng Jianwei, director of drug enforcement for Guangdong provincial department of public security.

"A total of 48 suspects, including two Taiwan residents, were detained while 17 vehicles used to transport drugs, a pistol, 10 bullets and cash valued at more than 7 million yuan ($1.13 million) were also seized during the police operation," the police said at a press conference in Guangzhou on Thursday.

As part of the coordinated bust, police seized more than 339 kilograms of "ice" and 1.04 tons of semi-finished "ice" in a secret drug production location in Huaiji of Zhaoqing city in an operation on May 15, he said.

The Huaiji bust is the largest of the entire operation.

The special crackdown has dealt a heavy blow to drug and related crimes in the southern province which borders Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, according to Deng.

But Deng reiterated that fighting drugs and drug-related crimes is a long-term and difficult task in Guangdong that has been the focus of China's anti-drug campaign for many years.

According to official statistics, the "ice" produced in Shanwei represents about half of total "ice" on the mainland, while the ketamine produced in Huizhou accounts for about one-third of the country's total.

"Many drug networks and channels still exist after many years of fighting drug and related crimes in the eastern part of Guangdong province," Deng said.

Some poor residents depend largely on the hugely profitable drug industry for a living, Deng said.

"A worker can earn more than 10,000 yuan, or a local white collar worker's monthly income in a single day working in some secret drug lab while a drug production engineer can earn even more than 20,000 yuan a day," he said.

"No other industry, except the drug sector, can offer such huge incomes to locals," Deng said.

Deng hinted that more special campaigns will be launched to fight drug and related crimes in the months to come.

"Police will increase rewards to locals who tip them off with clues that lead to solutions to drug and related cases," he added.

According to statistics from Deng's bureau, Guangdong police have exposed 61 secret drug production locations, seizing more than 6 tons of "ice" and 6.2 tons of semi-finished products, since a special province-wide campaign to fight drug and related crimes was launched last September.

A total of 1,564 suspects have been detained since then.