Saudi Arabia | Pakistani Citizen Executed in Makkah for Heroin Smuggling

Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug trafficking

A Pakistani national, identified as Bakhtiyar Zaib, was executed in Makkah on Sunday after being convicted of smuggling heroin into the Kingdom, the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced.

He had been arrested in connection with attempting to traffic heroin within Saudi Arabia.

A criminal court initially sentenced him to death; the verdict was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.

Saudi authorities stated that the execution took place on the morning of Sunday, July 27, 2025 (Islamic calendar date unconfirmed), after all legal appeals were exhausted.

Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, which falls under tazir offences—crimes in which punishment is at the judge’s discretion under Sharia-based law.

According to Harm Reduction International, Saudi Arabia saw a sharp rise in drug-related executions from just 2 in 2023 to 122 in 2024, making it one of the world’s leading countries in applying the death penalty for drug offences.

As reported, in early 2025, executions surged once again in KSA: between April 6 and April 24, at least 22 individuals were executed—17 of them foreign nationals convicted of drug crimes.

Drug-related cases in Saudi Arabia often result in death sentences based on confessions, which human rights organisations frequently report as coerced under duress or torture. Legal defence access for foreign defendants is often limited.

Source: oyeyeah.com, Staff, July 27, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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