Saudi Arabia Executes Seven Drug Convicts in Single Day

Saudi authorities have executed seven individuals convicted of drug trafficking in a single day, according to state media reports.

The Saudi Press Agency disclosed on Sunday that five Saudi nationals and two Jordanians were found guilty of smuggling amphetamine pills into the kingdom. The executions were carried out in the Riyadh region.

“The death penalty was carried out as a discretionary punishment against the perpetrators,” the agency stated.

Available data indicates that since the start of 2026, authorities in Saudi Arabia have executed 38 individuals for drug-related offences, forming the bulk of the 61 executions recorded so far this year. Foreign nationals reportedly account for the majority, with 33 executed.

In 2025, the kingdom recorded a surge in executions, with 356 people put to death — including 243 for drug-related crimes — marking the highest annual figure since Amnesty International began tracking such data in 1990. The previous record of 338 executions was set in 2024.

Saudi Arabia resumed capital punishment for drug offences in late 2022 after a suspension that lasted about three years.

The country remains one of the largest markets for captagon, an illicit stimulant that, according to the United Nations, was widely produced and exported during the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

The kingdom has continued to face criticism from rights groups over its use of the death penalty, which many describe as excessive and inconsistent with its efforts to project a more modern and reform-driven image under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.