BEIJING, Mar 11 (AP) -- After five years on the run, China's most-wanted drug suspect -- a gang leader accused of making more than 14 tons of methamphetamine -- was captured in the country's southeast, a news report said Friday.

Police acting on a tip arrested Liu Zhaohua, 40, on March 5 in his hometown of Fu'an in Fujian province, the newspaper China Daily said.

Liu is accused leading a gang that made 14 tons of methamphetamine at a clandestine factory in the country's northwest, the report said, citing Chen Cunyi, a national anti-drug official.

It said two informers whose tip led to Liu's capture split a reward of 200,000 yuan (US$24,000; €18,000), the newspaper said. The sum is the equivalent of 24 years' income for the average Chinese person.

The report said the tipsters' identities were being kept secret to protect their safety.

It was the first time Chinese police offered a reward nationwide in a drug case, the newspaper said.

Under Chinese law, anyone convicted of producing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine can face penalties up to a death sentence, according to the China Daily.

China executes hundreds of people every year for drug offenses.

Liu was one of five people on a list of China's top drug suspects released in November.

Another suspect on the list, Ma Shunsu, was captured Jan. 8 in Myanmar, which borders China to the southwest, and handed over to Chinese police, according to the government.

A reward of 50,000 yuan (US$6,000; €4,500) was paid to an informer whose information led to Ma's capture, the China Daily said.

It said the other three suspects are still at large.