By Lin Meilian

Liu Zhaohua, China's drug kingpin, was put to death Tuesday, two years after he was first convicted of producing and selling 12.7 tons of methamphetamine, the Supreme People's Court said Tuesday.

Liu, who was China's mostwanted drug trafficker, was sentenced to death in Guangzhou on June 26, 2007, the International Anti-Drug Day. He earned more than 31 million yuan ($4 million) between 1995 and 1999 from his business, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

After his sentencing, he appealed and the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court upheld the death sentence in 2008.

According to Chinese law, anyone who has produced more than 50 grams of illegal drugs may be sentenced to 15 years in prison, life imprisonment or to death.

A court official declined Tuesday to say where he was executed or what method was used.

Methamphetamine, known on the street by several nicknames including "ice" and meth, is a stimulant that's potentially addictive.

Little is know about Liu. He was born into a poor family in Southeast China's Fujian Province, where he built a three-story building and began manufacturing drugs in 1996. His illegal business stretched into Guangdong Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, according to the report. Liu had been on the run since 1999, when police in Guangdong found 11 tons of "ice" inside a warehouse in Guangzhou.

After they failed to locate him for a long time, the Ministry of Public Security offered a 200,000-yuan ($29,300) reward in 2004 for his whereabouts, it said. After five years on the run, police caught Liu in May 2005, on his 40th birthday, in Fujian Province.

Liu's accomplice, Guo Ruirong, was also sentenced to death with a reprieve, while four others, including Liu's wife, Li Xiaoqing, who sheltered Liu from the police, received prison terms ranging from two and a half to five years, it said without elaborating.

The court Tuesday also made public that three other drug traffickers in separate cases, convicted of producing, selling and transporting tons of illegal drugs, were executed. Zhang Jianxun, was sentenced to death for manufacturing more than 43 kilograms of ketamine, known as a party drug, between 2007 and 2008 in Sichuan Province. He Qibin was convicted of producing 25 kg of ketamine in Sichuan Province in 2007 and was later sentenced to death. Zhang and He were executed recently, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

In addition, Liang Ruinan was sentenced to death for making more than 166 kg of "ice" in Beijing in 2006. Liang was also executed Tuesday. Police handled 62,000 drug cases, arrested 74,000 suspects and cracked down on 1,565 drug trafficking groups in 2008, according to the National Narcotics Control Commission.