THE ringleader of a group of four that trafficked 96 kilograms of drugs was sentenced to death and immediately executed last February, No. 1 Branch of Shanghai People’s Procuratorate announced yesterday.

The three others were also sentenced to death but were granted two-year reprieves and sent to jail.

The ringleader, Wu Jili, trafficked more than 80 kilograms of drugs within one month, said prosecutor Gong Linna in a meeting held yesterday. The 96kg seizure was described as Shanghai’s biggest drug bust last year.

Since 2014, 157 drug offenders have been either jailed for life or placed on death row, accounting for more than 70 percent of those being charged by the No. 1 Branch of Shanghai People’s Procuratorate.

The total number of drug offenses has decreased but the money involved has risen, prosecutors said. Shao Zhicai, director of the public prosecution section, said “generally, most of the cases involved more than 5kg of drugs.”

Under China’s Criminal Law, people who make, trade and transport more than 1,000 grams of opium, more than 50 grams of heroin and methamphetamine, and other drugs in huge quantity will be jailed for at least 15 years.

Another increasingly severe problem, according to Shao, is that drug traders are using express delivery to transport drugs in an attempt to avoid being caught.

“It makes it hard for police and prosecutors to collect evidence because we can’t catch them along with the drugs or get direct evidence like fingerprints on drug packages,” said prosecutor Li Dong.

Shao said, “we will take zero tolerance to drug offenses and will impose severe punishments to the criminals.”