An Afghan drug trafficker was beheaded by use of the sword Monday in the western Saudi province of Mecca, the Saudi interior ministry announced.
Habibullah bin Rahmutallah was found guilty of smuggling heroin into the kingdom that he swallowed upon his arrest, the ministry said in a statement.
The beheading took to 19 the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year, according to interior ministry statements monitored by AFP.
Riyadh applies a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law, imposing the death penalty for murder, rape, apostasy, armed robbery, drug trafficking and repeated drug use.
In the year 2001, at least 81 people were executed. (Albawaba.com)
