SAUDI ARABIA: 4 FOREIGN NATIONALS BEHEADED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

four drug traffickers from Syria and Iran were executed by beheading in northern and eastern Saudi Arabia, the government said.
Three of the latest executions took place in the northern Al-Jawf Region, while the fourth took place at an unspecified location in the kingdom's eastern region, according to four separate statements issued by the Saudi Interior Ministry.
The men executed in the Al-Jawf Region were all Syrian nationals, identified as Hamoud Fayez Hassoun, Hassan Taha Musalamani, and Youssef Abdullah al-Halqi. They were convicted of smuggling "a large quantity of banned amphetamine pills" and had confessed to their crimes before the courts sentenced them to death, the interior ministry said.
The fourth execution took place in Saudi Arabia's eastern region, where Iranian national Raza Abbas Fadhil Aderisawi was beheaded by sword after being convicted of smuggling "a large quantity of hashish" into the kingdom by sea.
"The Interior Ministry reminds the public that the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) continues the fight against drugs of all kinds as it inflicts serious harm on the individual and society," the ministry said in its statement. "The most severe penalties on the perpetrators are derived from the righteous approach of Sharia law."
At least 45 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year, following 79 executions last year.