Drug dealers sentenced to death in Central China

CHANGSHA - A court in Central China's Hunan province sentenced 18 drug dealers on Thursday.

Four suspects were sentenced to death, five suspects received death sentences with a two-year reprieve, and another nine received life sentences and 10 to 15 years imprisonment, according to the ruling of the intermediate people's court in the city of Shaoyang.

Their personal property will be confiscated.

The suspects were involved in selling and transporting drugs from July to September 2017, the court said.

Drug trafficking is a felony offense in China. The maximum sentence for anyone convicted of selling or producing more than 50 grams of heroin is the death penalty.