Three drug smugglers executed in NE China

Three people were executed Wednesday in the largest drug case to be heard in Liaoning Province, northeast China, a local court said.

Ma Min, Yao Hongguo and Li Na were found guilty of smuggling 2,000 methamphetamine pills and 36 kilograms of the drug, the Liaoning provincial higher people's court said in a press release.

Starting in May 2008, the three were involved in transporting drugs from the southern city of Shenzhen to sell in the city of Yingkou, Liaoning.

They were arrested while collecting drugs from Yingkou Railway Station in May 2010.

As three men were identified as the leaders of the drug gang they were given the death penalty, the court said.

Police have stepped up investigations into on drug-related crimes over the past years.

In Beijing, several renowned celebrities have been detained for taking drugs since last year.

Since the beginning of 2014, 2,365 drug traffickers in the Chinese capital have been punished, including 446 that were handed prison terms of more than five years.

More than 90 percent of drugs seized by China in 2014 came from the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia, according to a report on drugs released Wednesday. Endi