Ten drug traffickers on Monday were sentenced to death, death with a two-year reprieve or life imprisonment for trafficking and selling 57.75 kilograms of heroin in south China.

The Intermediate People's Court of Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, found that Wu Zhangguang, a native of Qinzhou in Guangxi, met a drug trafficker named "A San" in April of 2002. The two decided that "A San" would transport drugs from Yunnan Province, southwest China, to the regional capital, Nanning, and Wu would transport the drugs to neighboring Guangdong Province via Beihai City.

A court investigation showed that Wu, in collusion with "A San" and others, trafficked and sold 57.75 kilograms of heroin between May 2002 and March 2003.

The court sentenced Wu, Huang Chongming, Guan Huichao, Hu Chaoqiang and Qin Huibiao to death. Liu Zuwei was given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve for helping police to catch the other traffickers.

Another four traffickers were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The police are still searching for "A San".

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2004)