China's Macao Special Administrative Region recorded 177 violent criminal cases in the first quarter of this year, seeing a year-on-year drop of 8.3 percent, according to official statistics issued here on Friday.

The figures released by Secretary for Security Cheong Kuok Va at a press conference showed that 3,081 crimes were recorded in the first three months, seeing a year-on-year rise of 17 percent.

Some 25 cases of illegal labor imports were logged in the quarter, according to the figures.

Juvenile crimes saw a year-on-year drop of 2.5 percent in the period, the figures showed.

The region has a population of 500,000.

Source: Xinhua