CHINA EXECUTES THREE PEOPLE OVER DRUGS, THEFT

BEIJING, (Reuters) - China executed three people including a woman after a
mass sentencing rally in southern Guangzhou city for drug smuggling and
robbery, state media said on Thursday.

Xiong Wenna, Lu Xianli and Maha Bibu were executed immediately after
Guangzhou Railway Transport court officials announced the verdicts, Xinhua
news agency said.

Eleven other criminals received death sentences with two-year suspensions
or were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years, Xinhua said.

Xiong, a 21-year-old woman, was executed for smuggling a "huge amount" of
heroin along railways, it said.

Police have reported a rise in robbery and drug trafficking cases this year
with the number of women perpetrators increasing, it said.

The executions brought to at least 11 the number of criminals put to death
in Guangdong province over the past week.

Three men were put to death in Shanwei city on Monday for smuggling 4,354
kg (9,600 lbs) of drugs earlier this year, Xinhua news agency said.

And on Saturday, a Guangzhou court ordered the execution of feared Hong
Kong gangster Cheung Tze-keung, also known as "Big Spender", and four of
his henchmen for kidnapping two prominent Hong Kong tycoons, smuggling
explosives and other crimes.

The men were shot immediately after a judicial panel rejected their appeals.

China, which executes more prisoners than the rest of the world combined,
carried out 1,876 death sentences last year, according to Amnesty
International.

The tally, based on compiled Chinese media reports, may vastly
underestimate the actual number of executions, which China protects as a
state secret, Amnesty has said.

Most executions are delivered with a low-calibre bullet to the back of the
head, though lethal injection has been introduced in parts of China.

Checked-by: derek rea