Saudi Arabia executes three Pakistanis for heroin smuggling

E-Paper | March 16, 2026

Saudi Arabia on Sunday executed three Pakistani nationals convicted of smuggling heroin, bringing the number of executions in the kingdom to 26 this year.

The state-run SPA news agency said the three had been found guilty of “smuggling quantities of heroin in their stomachs”.

It named the three men as Mohammed Ashraf Shafi Mohammed, Mohammed Aref Mohammed Anayt and Mohammed Afdal Asghar Ali. All three were Pakistani citizens.

SPA reported 153 people being executed in the ultra-conservative kingdom last year, a number confirmed by London-based rights group Amnesty International.

Among those executed was Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a high-profile figure behind a string of Shiite protests in 2011 demanding reform in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Amnesty reported 158 death penalties in the country for 2015, the highest annual rate in the past two decades.

Saudi Arabia has a strict legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia carried out 153 executions in 2016

Pakistani, Arab executed in Saudi as total beheadings this year near 100

Saudi Arabia executes Pakistani convicted of drug trafficking

Vicky

Apr 09, 2017 08:58pm

very well job

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Asif kamil

Apr 09, 2017 10:36pm

Anybody surprised !

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anonie

Apr 09, 2017 10:53pm

Good job.

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Sajjad Khan-Sherwani

Apr 09, 2017 11:50pm

Actually a good deed when you see the suffering narcotics bring on users and their families, but what is the root cause of this job??? This is due to the widespread corruption, illiterate rulers, huge families as no one can be educated properly because family planning is unknown is in this country of teeming millions. Even more devastating results of this are upcoming.

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ahmed

Apr 10, 2017 12:37am

i am from east africa i live lahoe, the news is bad one really , and off course dear pakistani brothers when ever u see some one from africa dont judge that they are drug truffickers , i lived in here and i saw huge number asking me this question drug drug and drug , so bad really while every 4 boys three of them are somoking we are all human being we should work for the good ness collectively

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T.m.khan

Apr 10, 2017 02:07am

Just to highlight that there are many Afghans holding Pakistani credentials are involved in this business, bringing a bad name to Pakistan. Stringent passport control and measures to identify passports obtained through bribery should be put in place to curb this menace.

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Kevin

Apr 10, 2017 02:46am

@ahmed : I share your sentiment but sadly many from Africa come for studies in South Asia and resort to drug peddling and online fraud to the point that people associate such crimes with people from Africa. I have worked in Africa and I have seen some of the best human beings in Africa than anywhere else. People like you get wrongly labeled in this.

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Fawad Razzaque

Apr 10, 2017 04:32am

Saudi government must stop this Barbaric act of chopping people's heads off

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haider

Apr 10, 2017 07:09am

I wish we had such laws against these drugs too.

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farhan

Apr 10, 2017 07:41am

not the right term "ultra conservative" , the one who follows the rules should not be termed like this by the media

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jalil yousaf

Apr 10, 2017 07:41am

What Pakistan needs to do is to find out what airline and what date they travelled from Pakistan. Then all the concerned officials be held responsible for letting these people board the plane. We not only provide safe haven to such people but we provide them safe exits too.

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Albela

Apr 10, 2017 07:44am

Once CPEC is completed,Saudis will come to Pakistan to work.

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Counterpoint

Apr 10, 2017 08:18am

Sad that people seem to appreciate & celebrate death. Did those killed get legal representation? Who were their handlers? Do they really do what they are accused of? If they really did, why? Get the complete details before you celebrate brutal killings, whether it's Pakistani's or not!

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Shab

Apr 10, 2017 08:44am

Barbaric. Although the drug peddlers need to be punished, death sentence is too harsh. Also if you have to tackle and give the harshest punishment, catch hold of the kingpins/mastermind behind it and put them to death.

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Apr 10, 2017 08:58am

any objection from pak?

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Feroz

Apr 10, 2017 09:07am

This can be called real desperation, knowing the number of people being executed every week for the same offense. These mules are being caught and executed while the controllers of this drug smuggling network seem to be enjoying their ill gotten wealth. Time to get the masterminds.

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SinghBling

Apr 10, 2017 09:20am

@Albela Once CPEC is completed, all pakistan problem will be solved and Pakistan will be heaven thereafter. Trust Me !

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Fareed Hussain

Apr 10, 2017 09:46am

this quick fix justice always leaves many questions to answer, but sadly people lose their lives for ever leaving their families behind suffering permanently too

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Make Pakistan great

Apr 10, 2017 10:21am

I am surprised by the nature of comments here - no one has talked about how the culprits managed to fool the officials of Customs and Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) stationed at the airports in Pakistan. This is the crux of the problem - it is either incompetence or collusion of the officials that lets the contraband item slip their prying eyes at the exit points i.e. our airports. More attention should be paid in posting the Customs and ANF officials at the airports.

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Abdul Rehman

Apr 10, 2017 10:23am

@haider : I wish we had such laws against these drugs too.. I wish we had such laws against corruption !!

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MYRESPONSE

Apr 10, 2017 10:48am

One question that always bothers me is "Why people go that far to risk their precious lives just for the sake of few thousand dollars.

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CH. K. A. Nye

Apr 10, 2017 11:26am

@T.m.khan... Ah yes... As long as we can put the blame on someone else.

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Make Pakistan great

Apr 10, 2017 12:55pm

@haider Many good laws are on the statutes for the welfare of the masses. What needs to be looked into is why these laws bear no results. The obvious reason is that implementation of the laws is weak or almost non-existent.

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Umar

Apr 10, 2017 02:33pm

@Make Pakistan great you a valid point but do you realise that corruption is rampant unless you tackle this nothing will happen more people will unfortunately meet the same fate

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Nasir London

Apr 10, 2017 02:34pm

Drug taking ruins life of those who take it, drug peddling ruins life of many as these people become rich, creat corruption and they win elections and run governments. It is the trafficers we should aim to stop and erradicate them first.

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Raza

Apr 10, 2017 04:56pm

Think about this issue with another perspective. The demand in Saudi Arab is so high that people are risking their heads!! RSA needs to look at that and reform their society. Despite the draconian rules, a women in the kingdom is not safe.

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Moksha

Apr 12, 2017 12:55am

Raheel Sharif sab should have used his influence from stopping the execution

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From USA S.A.Hyder, PH.d.

Apr 12, 2017 02:37am

If they broke the law of the land they deserve to be punished. One of the few good acts by the Saudis.

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