China court sentences eight drug traffickers to death

Guangzhou (China), Nov 26 (Xinhua) Eight African drug smugglers have been convicted and sentenced to death with two-year reprieve each in the south China province, officials said.

Another African was jailed for life at the mass sentencing at Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, said a court official.

The four Ugandans, two Benin nationals and three Zimbabweans were convicted in the case of drug trafficking, the official said.

In six cases, drugs were found on the smugglers' persons. About 1,200 grams of heroin was found in a 25-year-old woman named Asaria Mushangwe in June, the official said.

The largest amount of heroin, weighing 1,986 grams, was found in 39-year-old Ugandan woman Jean Ndawula Kirunda's luggage when she arrived at Guangzhou airport from Bangkok last year, the official said.