TAIYUAN - A court in north Shanxi province has sentenced five people to death and two others to death with a two-year reprieve on charges of drug trafficking.

The Intermediate People's Court in the provincial capital city of Taiyuan on Thursday convicted the seven in relation to 15 drug trafficking cases, in which over six kilograms of drugs, mainly heroin, was involved, according to the court statement issued on Friday.

Zhao Baoguo and Dong Zibao were sentenced to death after they swallowed drug packets with the intention of transporting them. Guo Chengjun, Wang Luming and Fan Furong asked the two to swallow the drugs, and they also received death sentences Thursday. The other two, Xue Yuping and Wang Jinming, received death sentences for their drug-dealing roles in the cases, but received a two-year reprieve, the statement said.

The seven were caught last October after they bought heroin in Yunnan province and swallowed it in order to conceal and transport the heroin, according to the statement

Two other body packers, surnamed Han and Wen, died from drug poisoning before police reached them.