Two Egyptians executed in Tabuk for hashish smuggling
Saudi Arabia executed Egyptian nationals Ataiwi Faraj Attia Suleiman and Subhi Odeh in Tabuk on 1 January 2019 for smuggling amphetamine pills, hashish and opium by sea. The Interior Ministry said the courts endorsed the death sentences and a royal order was issued to carry them out.
Saudi Arabia executed Egyptian nationals Ataiwi Faraj Attia Suleiman and Subhi Odeh in Tabuk on the first day of 2019 for smuggling drugs by sea into the kingdom.[1][2]The Interior Ministry said the two men were caught smuggling a large quantity of banned amphetamine pills, hashish and narcotic opium, and that investigators arrested them before the courts convicted them.[2]
The ministry said the death sentences were endorsed by the appeal and supreme courts and that a royal order was issued to carry them out.[2]Saudi Arabia traditionally executes prisoners by beheading for drug offences, which its strict interpretation of Sharia law treats as crimes against God.[1]
The same announcement reported the execution of Pakistani national Nizar Ahmad Qall Ahmad in the Makkah area of Jeddah for smuggling heroin, a separate non-cannabis case.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The ministry described the contraband only as a large quantity of amphetamine pills, hashish and narcotic opium, so no separable cannabis figure can be recorded.
The same 1 January announcement reported a third execution, of a Pakistani national in Jeddah for heroin smuggling, a separate non-cannabis event left out here.
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry executed two Ethiopian nationals in the Asir region on 11 November 2026 after convicting them of smuggling amphetamine pills and hashish into the kingdom. The ministry named the men and said their death sentences became final after appeal and confirmation by the Supreme Court.
Saudi Arabia executed five Ethiopian nationals in the Asir region on 5 November 2026 after convicting them of smuggling hashish. The executions brought the kingdom's 2026 total to 205, including 124 drug cases and 32 Ethiopians.
Saudi Arabia executed three Ethiopian nationals in the Asir region on 7 October 2026 after a court convicted them of jointly smuggling hashish into the kingdom. The interior ministry named them and said the death sentence was upheld on appeal and by the Supreme Court.
Saudi Arabia carried out a discretionary death sentence against Firas bin Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Sabah in the Madinah region on 29 August 2026 after convicting him a second time of trafficking hashish by transport.