CHANGSHA, Dec. 19 -- A court in central China's Hunan Province has sentenced three people to death and two others to death with a reprieve on charges of drug trafficking, the court announced on Friday.

Another nine suspects received sentences ranging from four years in prison to life imprisonment, the Higher People's Court of Hunan Province said.

The Changsha Intermediate People's Court on Thursday convicted 14 members of the gang on charges related to drug trafficking cases involving almost 300,000 "magu" pills, a stimulant containing methamphetamine and caffeine, according to the court's announcement.

The gang bought 180,000 magu pills in Xishuangbanna Prefecture in southwest Yunnan Province and transported the drugs to Hunan's Changsha City to sell between July 2012 and March 2013.

In May 2013, gang members bought another batch of magu and were busted on their way back to Hunan Province, with about 114,000 magu pills seized at the scene, according to the court.

The three gang leaders were sentenced to death for organizing the drug gang, dealing drugs and allocating illicit drug money.