Four drug gang members get death penalty in China

BEIJING - A Chinese court has sentenced four members of a drug gang to death, while four others were sentenced to life imprisonment, a media report said.

Wu Zhijian was sentenced to death by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court for running a criminal gang involved in producing, selling and transporting drugs.

Three other gang members were also sentenced to death but with a two-year reprieve, China Daily reported Saturday citing court officials.

Wu was also convicted of buying, selling and transporting firearms, ammunition and explosives, as well as murder, kidnapping and unlawful detention of people.

Four others were sentenced to life imprisonment, while 11 were ordered to serve jail terms of less than 20 years.

The court said Wu started manufacturing and selling drugs with other gang members in 2007. He also bought firearms for the gang so it could control the local drug trade.

Chinese law prohibits private ownership of guns. After the verdict Friday, Wu and 18 others said they would file an appeal against the ruling.