Police have confiscated 1,132.8 kg of stimulant drugs in the first six months of 1999, surpassing the 1-ton level for the first time in any year, the National Police Agency said Wednesday.
Large-scale busts in the first six months, such as one in Chiba that netted over 200 kg and one in Osaka that yielded a similar amount, helped push the figure past the previous yearly record of 650.8 kg set in 1996.
Alarmed at the rise in drug use, especially among the nation's youth, the agency declared in January 1998 that the country had entered a period of rampant stimulant abuse.
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