Mexican brothers sentenced to hang in Malaysia

MALAYSIA: Three Mexican brothers were sentenced Thursday to death by hanging in Malaysia on drug trafficking charges brought following their 2008 arrest at a methamphetamine factory.

The Gonzalez Villarreals -- Luis Alfonso, 44, Simon, 37 and Jose Regino, 33 -- were sentenced to death by a Kuala Lumpur High Court along with a Malaysian and a Singaporean.

The suspects were arrested at a factory in southern Malaysia, with police seizing almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of methamphetamine and chemicals used to produce the drug.

"The court finds all five accused are guilty of the charge against them," High Court Judge Mohamed Zawawi Salleh said, announcing the verdict.

"All five accused were aware and were involved in the activity of drug making... The offence is serious," he added.

Drug trafficking carries the mandatory death penalty by hanging in Muslim-majority Malaysia, though executions are not made publicly known and activists say few people are thought to have been put to death in recent years. AFP