CHINA: AUSTRALIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

April 2, 2015: A Queensland man has been sentenced to death in China after being caught trying to smuggle methamphetamine to Australia.
His alleged accomplice meanwhile is still awaiting trial.
Ibrahim Jalloh and Bengali Sherrif were arrested at Guangzhou airport in June last year but until now their plight has remained secret, according to ABC News.
Sherrif was sentenced to death for attempting to traffic the drug, which is used to make ice, but this will be commuted to life in prison if his behaviour in prison is good for two years.
Jalloh has apparently not been tried yet.
News of the arrests emerged in a Melbourne Magistrates Court last week during a committal hearing for three other men charged over an alleged conspiracy to import drugs from China.
At the hearing, an Australian Federal Police officer gave evidence that investigators learned from intercepting phone calls that an alleged drug syndicate was sending two couriers to China.
The AFP reportedly did not pass on the information to Chinese authorities but Jalloh and Sherrif were arrested at Guangzhou airport anyway, allegedly with a substantial quantity of methamphetamine. (Sources: 9news.com.au, 2/4/2015)