Saudi Arabia executes Jordanian for drug smuggling

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia on Thursday executed a Jordanian convicted of drug smuggling.

Mohammed Abu Zayed had been found guilty of smuggling amphetamines in his car, the interior ministry said.

The execution brings to 88 the number of foreigners and Saudis put to death this year.

Authorities carried out the sentence against Abu Zayed in the northwestern Tabuk region, which borders Jordan.

Amphetamines are stimulants most often targeted at students and labourers in the Gulf kingdom, the Interior Ministry's spokesperson, Gen. Mansour Al Turki, told reporters last month.

He added that war-ravaged Syria has become one of the biggest producers of the drug.

Most people put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword.

The executions so far this year include 47 for "terrorism" carried out in a single day on January 2.

Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions.

In late March, Saudi Arabia executed Jordanian Ammar Al Sager after he was found guilty of stabbing a Saudi citizen to death.

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia had the third highest number of people put to death last year — at least 158.

The Gulf kingdom came behind Pakistan, which executed 326, and Iran, which executed at least 977, said Amnesty, whose figures exclude China.