Two Chinese people have been sentenced to death for manufacturing illegal drugs in northwest China.

Three other Chinese and two Myanmese were sentenced to between 11 and 15 years in prison on Sunday -- the eve of the International Anti-Drug Day -- by the Intermediate People's Court of Lanzhou in Gansu Province.

The two criminals sentenced to death, Mu Yousu and Ma Wenhai, bought production equipment from Sichuan, purchased one kilogram of a drug known as "ice" and four kilograms of caffeine from Guangdong and then recruited two Burmese traffickers to help with the production in June 2005.

Police stormed Mu's underground factory on August 1, 2005 and confiscated 700 grams of "ice", over 2,000 pills of methamphetamine and 2,700 grams of semi-finished drugs. They found the factory, which was in its experimental stage, would be able to produce 10,000 pills an hour if put into full operation.

Mu Yousu was sentenced to death. Ma Wenhai was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. Myanmese traffickers Yang Jiami and Chen Xueyou were given 15 years and the rest were put in prison for 11 to 15 years.

Source: Xinhua