Saudi executes four people for drug smuggling

Saudi Arabia has executed another four people it says were found guilty of trying to illegally smuggle large quantities of illegal pills and hashish into the kingdom.

That brings to 45 the number of people executed this year in Saudi Arabia, according to an Associated Press tally. Thirteen of those were executed over the past two weeks alone.

The interior ministry said that three of the men executed on Tuesday were Syrian and the fourth is Iranian. No further details were released.

Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

The kingdom follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty on a number of crimes. It warns visitors that drug trafficking is a crime punishable by execution.