TAIYUAN - A court in North China's Shanxi province Monday sentenced two former police officers to life imprisonment for protecting a gang of tomb raiders and gambling and drug dealing activities.

Jing Yimin, former deputy head of Wenxi county public security bureau, and Li Anji, of the bureau's crime investigation team, were found by the Intermediate People's Court of Yuncheng city to have shielded the tomb raiders from 2010 to 2016.

Li Xiaodong, another former police officer, received a jail term of 16 years as an accessory.

Jing instructed other two officers to skip some tomb sites on their patrols, the court found. They were also found to have colluded with gang members in making statements following the gang's arrest.

Members of the gang were convicted of 16 crimes on Feb 10. One received a suspended death penalty and another four were sentenced to life in prison.