China's ice drug kingpin sentenced to death

BEIJING, Dec 19 (Reuters) A Chinese court has sentenced a man to death for making 12 tonnes of the drug ice, a local newspaper said today.

The court in the southern city of Guangzhou handed down the sentence to Chen Bingxi yesterday after a 22-month trial, convicting him of making, trafficking and shipping the drug and illegally crossing the border, the Beijing News said.

The official Xinhua news agency has described the case as ''the world's largest'' in the trade of ice, the street name for the crystallised form of methamphetamine that causes euphoria.

Under Chinese law, those found guilty of making or dealing 50 grams of ice can face capital punishment.

Local media said that 12 tonnes had been roughly the amount of all ice seized elsewhere in the world in 1999.

Chen, 50, masterminded and funded the ice production from 1998-1999 in a handbag factory in his native province of Guangdong in south China and in a pesticide factory in the northwestern region of Ningxia, the Beijing News said.

He fled to Thailand in 1999 the but was arrested by police in 2003, state media have said.

Chen and his wife, who was jailed by the court for 11 years for helping with the business, would appeal, the Beijing News said.

Two members of Chen's drug ring were also sentenced to death, but with a two-year reprieve, while another two received life imprisonment, Xinhua said today.

REUTERS MS RK0930