Five jailed in N China for kidnapping teens

TAIYUAN, Dec. 6 -- Five people, who are convicted of kidnapping and illegal gambling have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from two to eight years by a court in northern Shanxi Province.

The People's Court of Yanhu District in Yuncheng City has made a first-instance verdict, sentencing Liu Jifeng and Ma Qingfeng to eight years in prison, Zhang Haijiang to six years in prison, and Zhang Yinzhou to two years in prison. The above four people, who were each fined 20,000 yuan (2929 U.S. dollars), were convicted of kidnapping and gambling.

Zhang Dongyi, convicted of kidnapping, got a jail term of five years and a fine of 10,000 yuan, court sources said Sunday.

The verdict said Liu Jifeng, Ma Qingfeng and their complice lured or abducted teenagers to Myanmar, forcing them to gamble in casinos between July and October 2008. The kidnappers then held the young people, demanding ransoms of tens of thousands yuan from their family.

The verdict did not mention how many were kidnapped and the court and police declined to give any further details.