BEIJING - Chinese courts at all levels sentenced 74,670 criminals involved in 69,244 drug-related cases last year, said Sun Jun, spokesman with China's Supreme People's Court, on Tuesday.

Among them, over one-fourth were given "severe" penalties, meaning they are sentenced to death or prison terms of five years to life, Sun said at a press conference.

It was revealed at the press conference that traditional drug such as heroin still dominates the cases featuring high frequency of organized crimes.

"All the courts unswervingly followed the guideline on harshly cracking down on drug-related crimes in 2011," and helped maintain social order, the spokesman said.