In this file photo, a man arrested for trying to smuggle banned drugs into the Kingdom is guarded by anti-narcotics operatives at a border crossing. Drug trafficking remains a top concern despite the successful interdiction by Saudi authorities of big shipments in the past years. (SPA)

RIYADH: Saudi authorities on Wednesday 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 Makkah province brings to 87 the number of Saudis and foreigners executed this year in the Kingdom, according to an AFP tally.

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 kilograms (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.

Aside from drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are also punishable by death in the Kingdom.

[wpResize]