One man was sentenced to death and nine others to terms of up to
life imprisonment for trafficking 12.4 tons of crystal
methamphetamine, or "ice," the largest amount of the drug ever
seized by law enforcement officials in the world.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court in south China's Guangdong
Province announced the verdict on October 10.
The case, first ferreted out in Yunnan
and Guangdong provinces in July 1999, involved more than 200 kg of
heroin as well as the ice. The amount of ice seized was equivalent
to the total weight of the drug seized worldwide in 1998, according
to the Ministry of Public Security.
The main defendant, Zhang Qisheng, fled to Thailand traveling on
a fake passport in November 1999, but was arrested about three
years later.
The trial began in November 2003, and the court handed down the
sentence after several hearings.
Zhang and his wife Zhang Shaoxian appealed immediately. The
other defendants did not appeal.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2004