A group of 12 convicted drug traffickers was sentenced...

A group of 12 convicted drug traffickers was sentenced to death by a court in central China, for the buying and selling of heroin. Eight others received jail terms of 15 years to life in the case relating to the trading of 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of the drug. The sentences were handed down by the intermediate court of Henyang city in Hunan province. The gang was convicted of trafficking heroin from Ruili, a southern Chinese town bordering Myanmar, to Guangzhou city in Guangdong province and Henyang from November 2001 to 2002. The gang was headed by a man named Wang Jian and included several couples who would take the bulk heroin and distribute smaller quantities to drug users in the two cities. Two-year reprieves were handed down to two of the defendants receiving the death penalty which could have meant their sentences would be commuted to life.