The number of Penal Code violations reported between January and November hit a record high 2,508,983, the National Police Agency said in a report.

The same period last year saw 2,228,567 violations reported, while about 2.4 million cases were reported for the whole of 2000.

The arrest rate, though improving slightly from the first half of this year, hit a postwar low of 20.2 percent, down from 24.3 percent in the same period last year.

"It's important to improve the ability of individual police officers, but what is more important is to increase the ability of the police as a whole," NPA Chief Setsuo Tanaka said Thursday. "The number of people arrested is increasing and we are doing the best we can."

One NPA official expressed a growing sense of crisis, saying, "The amount of work each police officer can handle is reaching its limit, and they are being overwhelmed by things like requests for advice on people's personal problems."

According to the NPA, the number of cases investigated dropped 6.4 percent from the same period last year to 505,616, while the number of people arrested rose 5 percent to 298,921 people.

The number of serious crimes like murder, robbery and kidnapping rose 20 percent over the same period last year to 19,795 cases, with the arrest rate for such crimes standing at 53.7 percent, down 8.4 percentage points.

Serious crimes committed by foreigners rose 24.3 percent to 281 cases, about 1.42 percent of all serious crime.

Cases of crime in general committed by foreigners and resulting in arrests dropped 23.3 percent. The report says 45 percent of the foreigners who committed crimes were Chinese.

Crimes committed by foreigners are included in overall statistics, but the NPA also announces these figures separately.

There was a conspicuous rise in sexual assault cases -- 28.7 percent -- and in robberies -- 26.5 percent. Reflecting the long economic slump, robberies targeting financial institutions almost doubled to 215 cases.

Theft comprised 85 percent of all Penal Code violations, with petty crimes like bicycle theft increasing, an apparent reason for the lower arrest rate.

Meanwhile, the number of crimes committed by teenagers in the 11-month period increased 4.7 percent over the same period last year to 126,137, the first rise in three years, according to the NPA.

Ten juveniles under the age of 14 were taken into custody for murder and attempted murder in the reporting period, one for murder and nine for attempted murder. None were held last year and the highest this figure has been during the past decade is two.

The number of juveniles who were victims of crime rose 17.1 percent from the same period last year to 379,080, with those who were victims of sexual crimes rising 26.1 percent.

According to the NPA, juveniles arrested for serious crimes stood at 1,979, unchanged from the same period last year, while those arrested for assault and other violent crimes stood at 16,913, down 6.3 percent.

The report also says 50 juveniles died from child abuse, a rise of 31.6 percent.

Record drugs haul

Law enforcement officers seized record amounts of cannabis and designer drugs such as Ecstasy in the January-November period, the National Police Agency said.

The number of people arrested in drug-related cases, however, fell 798 from the same period last year to 18,451, the agency said Thursday.

Cannabis seizures totaled 819.2 kg, while officers also netted 112,233 Ecstasy pills and those of other synthetic drugs.

The number of arrests linked to stimulant drugs such as cocaine fell by about 1,100 to 16,813, although this still accounted for 91.1 percent of the total number of drug-related arrests.

The amount of stimulant drugs seized also fell a sharp 557.9 kg to 388.9 kg.

Foreign nationals arrested in drug-related cases increased by 174 people to 837, the agency said. Iranians topped the chart at 150, followed by Filipinos at 140 and Brazilians at 122.

In another report released the same day, the NPA said police forces across Japan seized 890 guns between January and November, an increase of 34 over the same period last year.

The agency also said it recorded 207 shootings, close to double last year's figure, with 71 cases related to gangland wars.

It also reported an increase in the number of people who died from gunshot wounds, with 38 such fatalities, 16 more than in the same period last year.

Of the 38 in question, 19 were not gang members, the NPA said, adding this was 11 more than during the same period last year.

The agency said in the report that no firearms were found during searches related to smuggling cases, compared with 114 seized during the same period last year.

The agency also said the Makarov, a handgun used in the Russian army, has gained considerable popularity. Some 108 guns of this kind have been found this year, a 3.5-fold increase over the same period last year.

The number of Makarov guns has already surpassed the 47 Tokarev firearms seized by the police during the period.

The Tokarev is a heavier and bigger cousin of the Makarov.

Until 1999, the NPA said it had not seized any Makarov guns, but last year 35 were seized.