HONG KONG MEN GET DEATH SENTENCES IN CHINA FOR DRUG DEALING

A court in south China has sentenced a Hong Kong drug lord and his
four associates to death following what is believed to be the world's
largest haul of "ice," local reports said.

The Intermediate Court of Shenzhen, adjoining Hong Kong, convicted
Chong Cho-shing (Zhuang Chucheng), 40, the leader of a narcotics ring,
and four other men, of making and selling more than 31 tonnes of
methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as "ice.

The four others were aged between 40 and 48.

It was the highest number of death sentences in a single case, the
South China Morning Post said.

In 1998, three Hong Kong men were executed in Guangdong for crimes
including kidnapping for ransom of Hong Kong tycoons.

The Post quoted judge Shi Zhenwen as saying Chong and his gang tried
to smuggle the drugs to overseas markets in fishing boats. They would
usually smuggle the ice to the Philippines and then on to Europe and
North America.

Another six mainland Chinese men associated with Chong were also
convicted. Three were given the death penalty, two given a suspended
death sentence and one jailed for life.

They have 10 days to appeal.

China-born Chong and an associate set up a network of drug factories
across south China and trained workers to manufacture "ice," the
official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. The associate is still at
large.

They recruited two engineers at a pharmaceutical factory in Nanning,
capital of southwest China's Guangxi region, to set up a laboratory to
make "ice." The engineers are to be tried separately.

Between August 1996 and July 2000, they rented workshops, bought raw
materials and employed workers to manufacture "ice" in Nanning, and in
Huizhou and Dongguan in neighbouring Guangdong province.

Chong also trained other people in drug-making and bought drugs from
them for 24,000 Hong Kong dollars (3,080 US) a kilogram (2.2 pounds),
Xinhua said.

The court said Chong and his accomplices were engaged in smuggling 901
kilograms of "ice."

Despite regular use of the death penalty, statistics show drug crime
is increasing in the world's most populous country.

In the first half of this year, China dealt with almost 160,000
drug-related cases, an increase of 33 percent from the same period in
2000, and arrested more than 28,000 suspects, up 15 percent.