Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Four men convicted of murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River in the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai in 2011 were executed in China Friday , state media reported . Chinese authorities identified one of the men as a Myanmar drug lord named Naw Kham , with the other three -- believed to be members of his gang -- named as Hsang Kham from Thailand , Yi Lai , referred to as `` stateless , '' and Zha Xika , a Laotian , the state-run Xinhua new agency reported . Xinhua referred to Kham 's nickname as `` the Godfather , '' saying that his was `` the largest armed drug trafficking gang on the Mekong River . '' The four men were executed by lethal injection in the city of Kunming in southwest China 's Yunnan Province , the Kunming Intermediate People 's Court said , Xinhua said . Their appeal was rejected last month . Chinese prosecutors defended the decision , saying the case had built up sufficient evidence , and that the actions of the four men were held to be extremely cruel . Prosecutor Zhang Weiting from the People 's Procuratorate of Yunnan Province told Xinhua that `` intentional murder is the heaviest crime in China and the murderers deserve their sentence . '' Thai authorities discovered the gruesome murder scene in October 2011 after boarding two cargo ships that had come under gunfire . They found nearly 1 million amphetamines and 12 dead bodies , some with their hands bound . One sailor was missing . The gang was arrested in a joint operation by police from China , Laos , Myanmar and Thailand , according to Xinhua . The agency added that the gang colluded with Thai soldiers in the attack on the cargo ships , the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8 . Kham was also accused of directing several of his subordinates in the kidnapping of Chinese sailors and hijacking of cargo ships in exchange for a ransom in early April 2011 , the court said , according to Chinese state media . In an interview from his prison cell with state broadcaster CCTV Friday , Kham appeared to express regret about his past . `` The Golden Triangle area is a place of evil , '' he said , referring to one of Southeast Asia 's main drug-producing areas that overlaps several countries in the region . `` It turns good people bad . `` People come here doing business , but they could n't resist the temptation of drugs , then they become drug dealers too . '' After the execution , the court was to hand over their remains , wills and personal belongings to relatives or relevant consulates , Xinhua said . Two additional gang members received death sentences with reprieves and will serve eight years in jail . The death penalty remains an iconic form of punishment in China , where executions are used as a public warning . Sentencing is broadcast on state television . China carries out the most executions by far in the world each year , according to Amnesty International -- thought to number in the thousands -- though it does not provide an exact figure . The official number of executions is a state secret . However , the group admits Beijing has taken steps in recent years to reduce the number of capital crimes . In 2011 , Amnesty said China abolished the death sentences for 13 non-violent offenses and in cases where the accused was over the age of 75 -- though it warned people were rarely executed in these cases , with the implementation of the death penalty often extended for other capital offenses . CNN 's CY Xu in Beijing contributed to this report .
One of the men was a Burmese drug dealer . The men were involved in the murders of at least 12 Chinese nationals in Thailand . Thai authorities found the corpses and about 1 million amphetamines in Bangkok .