Pakistani national executed in Jeddah for drug smuggling

A Pakistani national has been executed in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah for smuggling drugs, the interior ministry said.

Rauf Ahmed Mohamed Manour was executed in the Jeddah governorate of Makkah region on Monday for smuggling a quantity of heroin, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The ministry said that the court convicted the accused, with the death sentence endorsed by the appeals and supreme courts. A royal order was also issued to execute the sentence.

It reiterated that the Saudi government is “keen on combating narcotics due to their great harm to individuals and the society”, and warned violators of punishment according to Sharia law.

The kingdom’s laws on drug smuggling are among the strictest in the world and it has carried out multiple executions of those convicted of the crime.

Another Pakistani national was executed earlier this month in Saudi Arabia’s eastern region for smuggling heroin inside his intestines.

In July, two Pakistani nationals and a Lebanese national were executed in the kingdom, while a Nigerian national was executed in Madinah in June for smuggling cocaine in his intestines.