The government’s interagency investigation unit on drug crimes estimates that the number of offenders climbed nearly 50 percent in the first ten months of this year compared to last year.

According to the unit on Wednesday, authorities cracked down on a record 22-thousand-393 drug offenders between January and October of this year, up 47-and-a-half percent from the first ten months of 2022.

The number of crackdowns on people involved in the procurement of illicit substances, from smuggling to manufacturing, rose sharply by nearly 83 percent during said period.

The unit found that nearly 35 percent of drug offenders were in their teens or 20s.

The investigators attributed the latest spike to the stern response taken by the departments under the special unit.

Earlier in April, the government formed the special unit comprising 840 officials from the prosecution, the police and customs to focus on drug crimes targeting adolescents, internet users and drug smuggling.