Alleged drug kingpin Cai Dongjia, [center], is escorted into court  during a trial in December, 2015, in Foshan. He has been sentenced to death by the Guangdong High Court on Tuesday

A Chinese drug lord known as the ‘godfather of crystal meth’ was sentenced to death yesterday.
Cai Dongjia, 55, is the former chief of Boshe village in Guangdong Province.
He used his political power to make crystal meth, also known as methamphetamine, and provide protection to local drug dealers, according to Xinhua News Agency.
During Dongjia’s six-year tenure as village chief, Boshe grew to become China’s infamous ‘village of drugs’, producing a third of the country’s crystal meth supply at one point.

However the village had as many as 77 drug factories, all backed by corrupt Dongjia, who was the Communist Party secretary and chief of Boshe.
All of Boshe’s residents share the same ancestors and are surnamed Cai, making it more convenient for them to form a close-knit drug ring.
It is said that hundreds of Boshe residents, from children to pensioners , participated in producing, selling and transporting crystal meth from their homes.
These illegal factories were guarded by AK47-wielding residents, some as young as 18, who were extremely hostile towards outsiders, according to a report on China Central Television Station.
The notorious village was bust on December 29, 2013, after Guangdong police deployed 3,000 armed officers, speedboats and helicopters in a raid – the largest drug bust China has seen so far.

Hundreds of residents of Boshe village were snared in the Dec 2013 drug bust.  Local party Sec-General Cai Dongjia and 181 other suspects were arrested in the raid 

 Officers carry seized crystal meth at Boshe village, Lufeng, Guangdong province, December 29, 2013.

Police also shut down a factory which produced dynamite.
During the trial, theGuangdong Higher People’s Court heard that begining in 2011 the drug cartel led by Cai Dongjia and Cai Guangchuang, Cai Zhaogui recruited other co-conspirators and  repeatedly conspired to manufacture crystal meth in Boshe Village.
Dongjia was sentenced to death by Foshan Intermediate Court in first instance in 2016, together with his two co-defendants.
All of the three later appealed against the decision to a higher court.
Yesterday, the Guangdong High People’s Court dismissed their appeals and kept the original ruling.

The cottage drug industry was widespread

The drugs cache was recovered in tonnes

The high court heard that since Cai Dongjia and his accomplices, Cai Guangchuang and Cai Zhaogui, began making crystal meth in Boshe in 2011, they had produced 180 kilograms of crystal meth with the help of others.
Furthermore Zhaogui comspired with others to produce and sell 150 kilograms of crystal meth.
After Guangchuang and Zhaogui were arrested, Dongjia also tried to bribe the police in order to save the two, the court added.
Dongjia was found guilty of making and trading drugs as well as harbouring criminals. He was given a death sentence as a final judgement from the high court.
after entering guilty pleas, Guangchuang and Zhaogui were each given a suspended death sentence with two years probation for making and trading in drugs.
The decisions are pending approval from China’s Supreme People’s Court.