Man gets 14 years for drug charge

A man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for picking up a package that contained more than half a kilogram of methamphetamine on behalf of a friend, a district court said Wednesday.

The defendant, Zhou Yijun, was charged with possession of illegal drugs after police caught him with the package on November 8, 2012, according to a press release from Baoshan District People's Court.

A friend called Zhou on November 6 and offered to pay him 8,000 yuan ($1,313) to 10,000 yuan to take delivery of a package from Sichuan province at an address in Baoshan district, the court said.

Zhou drove to the address on the evening of November 7 and waited there until the next day when a van drove up and dropped off the package. Zhou picked up the package and walked into a nearby alley, where police stopped him, the court said.

After seeing the police, Zhou ditched the package and took off running, but the officers caught him almost immediately.

Police found 586 grams of methamphetamine in the parcel, according to the court press release.

Zhou argued in the court that he did not know that the package contained illegal drugs.

The court did not believe Zhou because he could not explain why he agreed to wait overnight at the address or why he ran from the police.

According to Chinese Criminal Law, one can be sentenced from seven years to life in prison for possessing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

Zhou was also fined 50,000 yuan.