China's anti-narcotics authorities have cast a wider net with a haul of about 60,000 arrests for drug-related offenses and confiscated nearly a dozen tons of illegal substances in a sweeping, iron-fisted campaign that took more than 3 months.

The nation's top anti-narcotics official described the mass arrests as a way to sow terror among drug offenders, China's state-run newspaper Legal Daily reported on Thursday.

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The "100-day campaign" ran from September to December last year - part of stepped up efforts to weed out drug offenders before the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year next month.

China's chief anti-drug official, Liu Yuejin, told Legal Daily that he ordered China's police forces to use the full strength of the law and resort to extraordinarily tough measures in carrying out the operation.

China's Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs controls Legal Daily while state-run news agency Xinhua also reported the raids.

The sweeping arrests follow a decision by a Beijing court sentencing celebrity Jaycee Chan to a six-month jail sentence for coddling drug users. He is the son of film star Jackie Chan, who is one of China's anti-drug ambassadors.

The younger Chan is the latest celebrity to fall in China's tough anti-narcotics campaign. In December, he tested positive for marijuana after police discovered the drug at his place.

He faced a maximum jail sentence of three years, but Beijing's Eastern district court handed down a six month sentence and fined Chan 2,000 yuan.

The celebrity's lawyer said his client could be free in a month because he already served his sentence while waiting for his trial since August. Prosecutors said Chan pleaded guilty voluntarily, confessing he had broken the law and he should be punished.

Jackie Chan earlier said he was not going to tolerate his son's actions and ruled out an appeal for a lighter sentence. 

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