¡¡¡¡GUANGZHOU, Aug. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- A gangster in south China's Guangdong Province was sentenced to death Thursday while his 20 followers were all given varied jail terms.

¡¡¡¡Zhou Guanglong was convicted by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court of organizing gangsters, injuring and blackmailing people, illegally carrying weapons and other serious crimes.

¡¡¡¡Zhou's organized crime began in 1990 when he collected "protection money" at the railway station of Guangzhou, the province's capital. Later he used violence to monopolize some major markets along the railway lines.

¡¡¡¡In 1999, Zhou and his followers established a "company" to control three long distance cargo railway lines. People who were reluctant to cooperate with Zhou were severely beaten.

¡¡¡¡Zhou accumulated a great deal of money and assets, including five cars and four luxury houses from his life of crime. Enditem