JAKARTA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of nine foreign nationals were killed by Indonesian police in 2017, a move aiming at preventing the spread of the narcotics in the country, top police officer said here on Friday.

National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian revealed that the drug abusers and dealers were shot dead across the country.

"The decision to shoot them dead was taken because the drug offenders were resisting when the police tried to arrest them," the general said in the police headquarters.

Tito said that a total of 46 Indonesian citizens were also killed this year for the drug offender.

General Tito said that the number of cases of drug abuses decreased from 47,767 in 2015 to 45,257 in 2016.

The number of suspects was also down from 60,387 to 56,791 in 2016, he said. However, the number of evidence rose from 11 tons last year to 150 tons this year.

According to President Joko Widodo, Indonesia has been a state of narcotic emergency with rampant drug abuse cases among the people, various kinds of new drug circulating among the abusers and active drug smuggling in the country. The government has declared war against drug abuses.