A Chinese court has jailed former fugitive Lai Changxing for life for running a large-scale smuggling operation that involved bribing hundreds of Chinese officials, state media reported on Friday.
"The crimes involve massive sums and particularly serious circumstances," China's state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the court as saying in its verdict.
Lai is said to have bribed hundreds of regional Customs, police and other government officials from 1996 to 1999 to advance his smuggling operations. Hundreds of them have already been implicated in the case.
The life sentence was handed down to Lai by the Intermediate People's Court of Xiamen, the city which was the center of his smuggling operations. His trial began in April after his deportation from Canada.
Lai fled to Canada with his family in 1999, and fought legal battles for nearly 12 years against his extradition to China after he was denied asylum by the Canadian government.
Although Lai argued that he faced torture and execution in his home country, a federal court in the Canadian capital Ottawa allowed his deportation in July 2011.
The Canadian court ruling came after the Chinese government gave assurances to Ottawa that Lai would be treated fairly in its justice system and would not be given the capital punishment.
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