Beijing, Jun 6 (IANS): The police in southern China have busted a workshop manufacturing methamphetamine hidden in a chicken farm and arrested 20 suspects, authorities said on Tuesday.

More than 200 police officers raided the factory in Gusi, a remote mountain village in Nanning, on May 31, according to Nanning public security bureau.

They confiscated more than 560 kg of methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, and over 140 kg of chloroephedrine, an in-process material for making methamphetamine, drug-making equipment and around $127,000, they said.

Guangxi police obtained information early in March that a man named Liang might be producing drugs in a suburb of Nanning.

After a three-month probe, a large drug racket covering Guangxi, Guangdong and Fujian provinces was uncovered.

The drug ring was well organised. The members were either relatives or fellow-villagers of Liang.

Between January to May, Nanning police have arrested 263 drug suspects, seized more than 2,200 kg drugs, 89 times more than it seized in the same period last year.

Further investigation is on, police said.