Three Hong Kong residents have received suspended death sentences in Guangzhou for producing more than 600kg of Ecstasy. Wong Kan-ming, Wong Hon-tsing and Wong Shui-lun were sentenced in Guangzhou People's Intermediate Court on Tuesday. Another Hong Kong man, Cheong Yu-sing, and a Canadian Chinese, Tse Hung-kit, received jail terms ranging from 12 to 15 years on the same charge. Two mainlanders were jailed for life and eight others received sentences from 11 to 15 years. The Guangzhou News Express said it was the biggest drug trafficking case in the city's history and involved a multinational crime ring that produced and supplied recreational drugs to discos and nightclubs in Guangzhou and the nearby city of Huizhou. It did not say for how long the Hong Kong men's death sentences were suspended. The gang set up a factory in a Guangzhou garage to produce the drug using a formula provided by Wong Kan-ming. It later expanded the business into neighbouring districts and established an extensive production network across the city. Its underground factories were in operation between January 2000 and November 2001, when they were raided by police. 'When police officers burst into the factory, they found 616kg of drugs and ingredients. Even the kitchen blender and washbasin were filled with drugs,' the report said. The Guangzhou People's Procuratorate charged the men on September 8, 2003. They went on trail earlier this year. It was unclear yesterday whether any of the defendants planned to appeal against the verdict. Guangzhou officials say the city has a serious drug problem. By the end of last year, more than 21,500 people were registered as drug addicts and it was estimated that people spent more than 4 billion yuan on drugs in 2003.
