Four gun smugglers were sentenced to death on Thursday at their first trial by a local court in northwest China's Qinghai Province, according to court sources.

Four others were sentenced to death with two years' suspension and one other got life imprisonment, said sources from the Intermediate People's Court of Haidong Prefecture.

Five more smugglers were sentenced to imprisonment of between 14 and 15 years.

The 14 gun smugglers, led by Ma Zeying and Li Zhi, were convicted of having smuggled 914 guns and 1,556 gun components from Pakistan to China between 1995 and 2004.

It is the biggest cross-border weapon smuggling case since the founding of the People's Republic of China, sources said.

The four criminals who received death penalties, Ma Zeying, Ma Qi, Li Zhi and Tan Zhenming, smuggled 469, 365, 265 and 232 guns, respectively.

The case was filed for investigation by the Qinghai Provincial Department of Public Security in August 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2005)