Riyadh: Saudi authorities on Wednesday beheaded a Pakistani man found guilty of smuggling drugs into the kingdom, the interior ministry said.

The man was caught attempting to smuggle heroin hidden inside his stomach, the ministry said.

He was executed in Riyadh.

His beheading brings to 38 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP tally.

In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch has put the number at 69.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.