[caption id="attachment_114986" align="alignright" width="191"] This file photo shows the beheading of a man in Saudi Arabia.[/caption]

Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian national after sentencing him to death on charges related to drug trafficking. 

The convicted Syrian, identified as Firas Mohammed al-Kor, was beheaded on Wednesday in the northwestern region of Jawf, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The man was found guilty of smuggling amphetamines into Saudi Arabia, the ministry added.

The beheading brings to 49 the number of people executed across the kingdom so far this year. Last year, Saudi authorities executed 87 people, compared with 78 in 2013.

On March 11, Saudi Arabia beheaded two foreigners and a Saudi man separately after sentencing them to death over similar charges.

Concern is growing about the increasing number of executions in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi officials execute convicts by sword and then dangle their corpses from a helicopter to make sure the public could see the result of the execution.

Saudi authorities say the executions reveal the government’s commitment to “maintaining security and realizing justice.”

The country has come under particular criticism from rights groups for the executions carried out for non-fatal crimes. According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

Muslim clerics have also slammed Riyadh for indicting and then executing suspects without giving them a chance to defend themselves, describing the Saudi authorities as uncivilized.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi rule.

By Press TV