China has executed three “key” members of an international drug-trafficking gang that had planned to set up factories in India to produce “ice”, a powerful, synthetic stimulant drug.The death penalties were carried out yesterday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the verdict of the Fujian Higher People’s Court. The Higher court had earlier upheld the sentence of the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court given in 2004, state media said.In China, “ice” is a common name used by drug dealers for methamphetamine hydrochloride.The gang led by Wang Jianzhang, nicknamed “125”, was one of China’s largest drug smuggling groups and had sold 36.159 kgs of heroin within China and trafficked drugs to the US since 1996, official Xinhua news agency said. The Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court had earlier handed down death sentence to Wang, Chen Ronghua and Zheng Meigiu.All the 10 members of the group, seven from Hong Kong, one a US green card holder and two locals, were arrested by Chinese police in Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in May 2003.The Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court had in the first-instant trial handed down death sentence to Wang, Chen Ronghua and Zheng Meigiu. Two other members were also given death sentence with a two-year reprieve, another life imprisonment and four others prison terms from three to 12 years.China had recently executed nine drug dealers, including six on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking last month, vowing that the country’s anti-narcotics campaign would remain tough.
