Zhao Guoma, 40, the leader of a major drug smuggling...

Zhao Guoma, 40, the leader of a major drug smuggling ring in south China's Guangdong province, was executed and 17 other drug dealers were given the death penalty or life imprisonment, Xinhua news agency reported. Police uncovered the drugs case in 1999 and captured eight other suspects then, but Zhao escaped to Thailand, it said.
After three years in hiding, Zhao slipped back into China in 2001 and was captured by customs officers in the Guangdong city of Zhuhai.
The others were sentenced to death or given suspended death sentences. Police seized 192 kilograms (422 pounds) of heroin, caffeine, methamphetamine hydrochloride and cannabis, more than 8.32 million yuan (1 million US dollars), five cars and two pistols from the gang, Xinhua said.