Beijing -
The leader of a Chinese baby trafficking ring that brought 23 boys and pregnant women from Vietnam was sentenced to death on Friday, a state news agency reported.
The court in the southern region of Guangxi gave another 23 members of the group sentences ranging from less than two years to life in prison, the Xinhua News Agency said.
A Vietnamese woman who was among those sentenced also was ordered expelled to her home country.
The trafficking ring operated in 2010 and 2011 and sold the babies for adoption in China, Xinhua said. It said the smugglers evaded detection at the border by moving the children and women by taking out-of-the-way roads before heading to the southern Chinese city of Guangdong.
Police broke up the ring in 2011.
In February, authorities announced they had broken up four baby smuggling rings in 27 provinces and regions. They said 382 abducted infants were rescued and 1 094 suspects captured. - Sapa-AP