His family say he was a fisherman. The Saudis say he smuggled drugs. He was one of hundreds executed this year

For a year, Mohamed Saad’s family had no idea whether he was alive or dead. The 28-year-old Egyptian fisherman had gone out on a routine trip off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and never returned. Relatives searched for months with no word from authorities. When they finally heard his voice, it was from a prison in Tabuk, northern Saudi Arabia, where Saad said he was being held on drug-smuggling charges.

On October 21 the Saudi state killed him, eight years after being detained. The family learned of his death through a cellmate. The official Saudi news agency said a court had judged him guilty of smuggling amphetamine pills. As of now, Saudi officials still have not notified Saad’s family of his killing, nor told them where he is buried, a person close to the family told CNN.

Saad was one of hundreds of people executed this year in Saudi Arabia, most accused of non-lethal drug crimes, according to a database compiled by the Berlin-based European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) and Reprieve, which monitors Saudi media and speaks to families.

Many were foreigners: Egyptian, Somali or Ethiopian migrant workers drawn by the kingdom’s economic allure and later trapped in its justice system. In 2024 the kingdom executed 345 people, rights groups say, double the rate of the past few years.

Since becoming its de facto leader in 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known by his initials, MBS, has sought to modernize the kingdom at a breath-taking rate. Seasoned visitors describe the country as almost unrecognizable. He has neutralized the religious police, abolished flogging, allowed women to drive, and will host soccer’s 2034 FIFA World Cup. His country has flown in musicians and sports stars from across the globe and launched world-famous festivals.