BEIJING - At least 15 convicted drug traffickers were executed in China Friday, two days before the United Nations-sponsored International Anti-Drugs Day, state press reported.
Twelve people were put to death immediately after their execution orders were read out by the intermediate court in Kunming city, southwestern China`s Yunnan province, Xinhua news agency said.
Ten of the executed were convicted of selling or transporting heroin in quantities ranging from 410 grams (14.6 ounces) to 7.7 kilograms (16.9 pounds), the report said.
The other two executed murdered a drug trafficker during a deal gone wrong.
Yunnan borders the poppy growing "Golden Triangle" region of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, where most of the herion entering China originates.
China relaunched an anti-drug crusade in April when it announced that the number of drug addicts had grown to 790,000 people, a 6.8 percent increase over 2004.
In Beijing, 101 convicted drug traffickers were sentenced Friday to prison terms of up to life in prison and the death sentence, the State Supreme Court said on its website without giving specific details.
The collective sentencing was "to mark a strong moment in the fight against drugs," the court said.
In Hangzhou, in eastern Zhejiang province, two other convicted traffickers - both infected with HIV/AIDS - were executed after their sentences were read out at a public sentencing rally, Xinhua said in a separate report.
Meanwhile in Shanghai, the convicted leader of a drug gang was executed after his sentence was read out by a court linked with the city`s railway administration, the Supreme Court said.
China executes more people every year than the rest of the world combined, but maintains secrecy over the exact number.
Amnesty International said it had documented, based on state press reports, 3,400 executions in 2004, but the number is believed to range as high as 10,000 a year.
In another report, Xinhua said Chinese drug addicts make up half of the population in China`s "re-education through labor camps," which also serve as detoxification centers.
The camps have long been viewed by the United Nations and rights group as hotbeds for human rights abuse, largely because the state can sentence people to the camps without trial.
06/24/2005 10:16 GMT