RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Thursday beheaded a Pakistani man for heroin smuggling, the 13th prisoner from Pakistan to be executed in the kingdom for drug trafficking since mid-October.

His beheading in the western Mecca province brings to 87 the number of Saudis and foreigners executed this year in the oil-flush state, according to an AFP tally.

Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest execution tolls.

Sadruddin Saeedullah Khan was caught smuggling “a large amount of heroin, “the Interior Ministry said.

In addition to amphetamines and other drugs, Saudi authorities seized almost 18 kilogrammes (40 pounds) of raw heroin during the Islamic calendar year that ended in October, according to the ministry.

The Gulf has become an increasingly important market for illicit drugs in recent years, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said.

Rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are also punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic Shariah law.