Shaoyang drug traffickers receive sentence

A group of drug traffickers was sentenced in Shaoyang, Central China's Hunan province, for trafficking a large amount of methamphetamine, a court announced on Thursday.

According to the court, four of the 18 traffickers will receive the death penalty, five were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and four received life imprisonment, while the others received different jail terms.

From July to September 2017, three defendants He Haibo, Huang Zhengkun and Chen Feiyue went to Guangdong and bought more than 80 kilograms of methamphetamine from three other smugglers. They distributed the drugs to traffickers after smuggling them back to Shaoyang.

As leading criminals, Huang, He, Chen and Li Mianwei, one of the three that sold the drugs to them, were sentenced to death. Another five were sentenced to death with reprieve and four received life imprisonment as they played important roles in the smuggling. The remaining were given jail terms ranging from 10 to 15 years.

They have 10 days to appeal after receiving the court verdict.

According to Chinese criminal law, those who smuggle, sell, transport or manufacture opium of more than 1 kg, or heroin or methamphetamine of more than 50 grams can be sentenced to 15 years in jail, life imprisonment or even death.