The No 2 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing pronounced sentence on a gang of 18 illegal sand miners led by a pair of brothers named Wang Xiaolei and Wang Hui from Northeastern Beijing's Miyun county on Tuesday evening.

The gang was accused of crimes including sand mining, blackmail, assault and disturbing public order.

The elder brother, Wang Xiaolei, received a jail term of 17 years and was fined 2 million yuan, his brother, Wang Hui, was sentenced to eight years. The other members of the gang received jail terms of one to eight years and fines of 20,000 to 100,000 yuan.

The brothers each established a company in 2002 specializing in earthworks, transportation, and large machinery appliances and the 33-year-old elder brother ran a successful gavel and sand plant.

However, the brothers started illegally mining sand around 2005 in pursuit of quick profits. They mainly chose the riverbeds, green areas and roadsides where Shunyi district, Huairou district and Miyun county intersect.

According to Beijing News, the bothers, together with other workers, were found sand mining a 7-hectare pit, 20 meters deep, close to the Daqing Railway, in Shunyi district in February.

"At first, these people stole sand at night. But later, they even mined in the daytime. The village saw more than 200 trucks going in and out every day," a villager, who declined to be named, told Beijing News.

"Given enough mining facilities and vehicles, it is easy to earn up to 100,000 yuan overnight," a villager surnamed Wang, was reported as saying.

In addition, the brothers employed more than 20 "security workers" to ensure the success of the illegal business.

They set up local road-blocks and the "security workers" collected tolls, ranging from 30 yuan to 50 yuan, from vehicles from other areas and provinces.

However, on June 8, a group of 200 police officers arrested the gang.

Wang Xiaolei admitted the offence of unlicensed sand mining, but claimed that he bought some of the sand and gravel from local landowners.