The number of registered drug addicts in Shanghai increased by 10 percent in 2012 to 67,000, with 42.7 percent of them below the age of 35, local media reported Monday.

The number of young drug addicts fell by 2.5 percent from 2011, even though the total number registered in the city has grown by 10 percent annually over the past five years, according to the Shanghai Municipal Narcotics Control Commission.

Shanghai police solved 1,536 drug cases from January to May 20, identifying 8,285 drug users. In those cases, they arrested 1,698 suspects and seized 350 kilograms of illegal drugs.

Most of the identified drug addicts in Shanghai are unemployed single men with little education. Around 66 percent have local household registration.

Last year, Shanghai police arrested 3,436 suspects and seized 467 kilograms of drugs, about 80 percent of which were methamphetamine and ketamine. About 86 percent of the drugs came from other provinces, while the rest were imported.

As a port city, Shanghai is becoming a transit point for drugs and an illegal market for drug dealers.