Hundreds of people have been apprehended over suspicions of drug use since November, police said Sunday.

A total of 1,512 drug suspects were arrested between Nov. 16 and Feb. 15, up 44 percent on-year, the National Police Agency said. Of them, 460 were detained.

Methamphetamine was by far the most common type of drug, at 70.6 percent, followed by marijuana at 10.4 percent and psychoactive drugs at 9.3 percent.

As in recent years, most of the meth is presumed to have come from China, although lately there have been more cases of smuggling from Southeast Asia. Last month, a South Korean man was arrested on his way back from the Philippines, carrying 1 kilogram of meth. In November, a South Korean woman was caught while trying to bring in 85 grams of meth from Cambodia.

By age group, those aged 40-49 represented the largest portion (38.8 percent). Those aged 30-39 were next with 24.5 percent, and 50-somethings trailed with 19.8 percent.

Half of the suspects didn't have jobs, with drug use probably contributing to the vicious cycle, police said.

The remaining half was divided between office workers with 8.6 percent, manual laborers with 6.6 percent and workers at nightlife establishments with 3.5 percent. (Yonhap)