HAIKOU -?Police in south China's Hainan Province have seized 1,060 kilograms of methamphetamine, sometimes referred to as ice, the largest ever haul of the drug in the province, police said Thursday.

Nine suspects, including the alleged ringleader, surnamed Zhuang, and drug producers, were arrested on Jan. 8, said a police officer with the provincial public security department at a press conference.

Based in the provincial capital Haikou, the gang contacted dealers in Guangdong Province and also sold the drugs to other areas of Hainan.

Hainan initiated a three-year drug control campaign from November 2016, and started offering up to 100,000 yuan (14,600 U.S. dollars) to informants the next month.

To date, more than 1,700 suspects in connection with drug-related crimes have been caught in over 1,500 cases, up 193 percent and 207 percent year on year, respectively, according to the police officer.

A total of 3 million yuan has been awarded to informants so far.