TAIYUAN, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Five people were sentenced to death for drug dealing, according to a court in north China's Shanxi Province.

Of the 23 people involved in the case, three received death sentences with a reprieve, and one received a life sentence. The rest were sentenced to three to 16 years imprisonment, according to the ruling of intermediate people's court in the city of Jincheng on Friday.

Their personal properties were confiscated.

The drug gang was involved in selling drugs weighing more than 84 kilograms between September 2016 to January 2017. They were busted in January 2017.

Drug trafficking is a felony offense in China. The maximum sentence for anyone convicted of selling or producing more than 50 grams of heroin is the death penalty.