Drug Crackdown

Saudi Arabia’s war on narcotics has entered a new, grim phase. Confronted with a flood of amphetamine tablets—most notably the potent “captagon” pills that have been smuggled into the kingdom in staggering quantities—authorities have responded with a sweeping crackdown that has pushed the number of executions to near‑record levels. Over...

Saudi Arabia is witnessing a dramatic surge in executions, driven largely by an intensified campaign against drug trafficking. In recent months the kingdom has carried out hundreds of death sentences, many of them against foreign nationals caught in low‑level smuggling operations, as it battles an influx of amphetamine pills and...