Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- More than 3,000 paramilitary forces and police descended on a small coastal village in China 's Guangdong province -- many of them in helicopters and speedboats . In the early hours of Sunday , they conducted 109 raids in Boshe , a village of 14,000 people . In the massive crackdown on the region 's illicit narcotic trade , police seized three tons of crystalline methamphetamine , also known as crystal meth or ice , and arrested 182 people with suspected links to 18 drug rings , according to a statement released Thursday by Guangdong 's public security bureau . They recovered another 100 tons of raw materials for producing drugs , as well as guns , knives and a grenade , a spokesperson for the public security bureau told CNN on Friday . Some 77 drug factories were shut down in the raid , police say . Boshe is located inside the city of Lufeng , long considered by authorities as a hotbed for the production and trade of drugs . In the last three years , one-third of China 's crystal meth came from the city , according to the security bureau 's statement . In Boshe , more than one in five households are directly involved in the trade or production of drugs , the statement said . Since the 1990s , there has been little industry in the region and many residents have moved to nearby cities like Shenzhen in search of better opportunities . According to the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper , growing numbers of villagers in Lufeng have turned their homes and farms into drug factories . Guangdong authorities did not give an estimated value of the drugs seized on Sunday , but the South China Morning Post newspaper said the haul would be worth around U.S. $ 232 million . Police in Guangdong have seized 8.1 tons of drugs and made 10,836 arrests since July 2013 , when the province launched a campaign to crack down on narcotics , said Guo Shabo , the public security bureau 's deputy director in a statement . According to a recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , 70 % of the 326 illegal drug-making facilities shut down in China in 2012 were manufacturing crystal meth . More than half of these laboratories were in Guangdong . Some 88 tons of methamphetamine were seized worldwide in 2011 , the latest year for which figures are available , according to to the UNODC .
Police seize 3 tons of crystal meth in a village in Guangdong . Some 182 people were arrested in 109 raids on Sunday . The area is a notorious hotspot for drug production and trade .