Pakistani national executed in Riyadh for drug smuggling

A Pakistani national has been executed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for smuggling drugs, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The kingdom’s interior ministry said that Shahzad Nim Khan was executed on Thursday for smuggling a “quantity of heroin inside his intestines”.

The ministry said that the accused was convicted by the court with the sentence endorsed by the appeal and supreme courts. A royal order was 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.

So far this month, a Lebanese national and a Pakistani national were executed in the kingdom, while last month a Nigerian national was executed in Madinah for smuggling cocaine in his intestines.

Those executed in the country for drug smuggling last year include five Saudi nationals, four Pakistani nationals, three Yemenis, Two Egyptians, one Syrian national and a Palestinian national.