Punishment for Drug Dealing in Saudi Arabia: Dealing vs Smuggling

A young man is arrested in Jeddah with small bags prepared for sale and a phone with chats with buyers. The first question his family asks: can he be sentenced to death? The direct answer: first-time dealing (in Saudi law, "promotion", tarweej) falls in principle under Article 38 of the Anti-Narcotics Law, with imprisonment from five to fifteen years and a fine from SAR 1,000 to SAR 50,000. The death penalty as ta'zir (a discretionary punishment set by the judge, not a fixed Sharia penalty) belongs to Article 37: smuggling, receiving drugs from a smuggler, importing or growing drugs for dealing, and dealing a second time after a previous conviction for dealing. Even in these cases, the court may reduce the penalty to imprisonment.

Why are there two levels of penalty for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia?

The Law on Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (the Anti-Narcotics Law) places trafficking crimes at two levels. The first, in Article 37, is the most serious. It covers smuggling, receiving from a smuggler, bringing in, importing, growing and manufacturing for dealing, and repeat dealing after a previous conviction. The second, in Article 38, covers possession, sale, transport and similar acts when the purpose is trading or dealing. The article under which the act is classified decides the size of the penalty.

Smuggling in this law is understood by reference to the Customs Law: Article 1 treats as smuggling everything that counts as smuggling under the Customs Law.

Which drug offences carry the death penalty in Saudi Arabia?

Article 37 sets the death penalty as ta'zir for anyone proven to have committed one of these acts:

• Smuggling narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
• Receiving these substances from a smuggler.
• Bringing in, importing, exporting, manufacturing, producing, converting, extracting, growing or receiving them for the purpose of dealing, outside the cases licensed by law.
• Taking part by agreement in any of the acts above.
• Dealing a second time, by selling, giving as a gift, distributing, delivering or transporting, if he was previously convicted of a first dealing offence.
• Dealing for the first time, if he was previously convicted of one of the acts in the first three items.

This does not mean every such case ends with a death sentence. Paragraph 2 of the same article allows the court, for reasons it considers valid, to reduce this penalty to imprisonment of not less than fifteen years and a fine of not less than SAR 100,000.

The law does not list the reasons for reducing the penalty. It leaves them to the court according to the circumstances of each case. That is why judgments differ in cases that look similar.

The fourth item deserves attention. Taking part by agreement makes a person responsible for the act even if the substance was never in his hands. A person who agreed with others to smuggle a shipment, without touching it himself, falls under this article once the agreement is proven.

When does the alternative prison term rise to 25 years?

Paragraph 3 of Article 37 raises the minimum if the death penalty is not imposed and one of four situations applies to the offender. The prison term is then not less than twenty-five years and the fine not less than SAR 150,000. The situations are:

• Repeating one of the crimes in this article after being convicted of one of them.
• Being a public employee, a worker, or a person responsible for enforcing the law, combating drugs or supervising their circulation.
• Being a member of an organised gang whose purposes include smuggling or trading, or the crime being linked to an international crime such as arms smuggling, currency counterfeiting or terrorism.
• Being armed and using the weapon while committing the crime.

What is the punishment for first-time drug dealing in Saudi Arabia?

Anyone who possesses, holds, sells, buys, transports, delivers, receives or finances drugs for the purpose of trading or dealing, with or without payment, outside the cases licensed by law, is punished under Article 38 with imprisonment from five to fifteen years and a fine from SAR 1,000 to SAR 50,000.

Note that dealing in this law does not mean only selling. Giving as a gift, distributing, delivering and transporting are all forms named in the text, and Article 38 punishes the act with or without payment. A person who gives a friend a substance for free may be charged with dealing if it is proven that his purpose was to pass it on to others, not just shared use.

Paragraph 2 of Article 38 requires a heavier penalty if the act happens in certain circumstances, including:

• One of the aggravating situations in paragraph 3 of Article 37 applies.
• The crime, or part of it, is committed in a mosque, an educational institution or a correctional facility.
• The substance is heroin, cocaine or something equally dangerous according to a technical report.
• The offender exploits people he raises or has authority over, or gives or sells the substance to a minor or pushes a minor to use it.
• Preparing a place for drug use in exchange for payment.

Articles 37 and 38 also mention flogging, in addition to imprisonment and the fine. However, in 2020 the General Panel of the Supreme Court adopted a judicial principle that courts should not impose flogging as a ta'zir (discretionary) penalty, and should use imprisonment, a fine, both, or alternative penalties instead, as announced by the Human Rights Commission and reported in the local press. This is why the table shows only imprisonment and the fine.

The difference between the two articles is not only the length of imprisonment. Article 37 starts with the death penalty, and the lowest the court can go is fifteen years, while the minimum in Article 38 starts at five years. That is why in large cases the dispute often turns on the source of the substance: did the accused receive it from a smuggler or bring it in himself, or did he possess it inside the Kingdom to sell it?

A conviction the first time is what changes the description of the second time. That is why the judge looks at previous convictions before deciding which article applies.

What else follows a drug dealing conviction besides prison and a fine?

• Confiscation of vehicles and tools used, and of money obtained from the crime even if converted into other assets, while protecting the rights of good-faith third parties (Article 53).
• The court may order a precautionary seizure of the assets of the accused, his spouse and his minor children if there is evidence that their source is drugs (Article 54).
• A Saudi is banned from travel after his prison term ends for an equal period of at least two years. A non-Saudi is deported and may not return except as permitted by Hajj and Umrah instructions (Article 56).
• Laundering drug money is a separate crime punished with imprisonment from 3 to 10 years and a fine of at least SAR 50,000 (Article 40).

There is also an effect before the judgment. The crimes in Articles 37 and 38 carry at least five years in prison, so they fall within the major crimes requiring detention under Attorney General's Decision No. (1) dated 1/1/1442H (the item covering crimes punishable by law with more than three years in prison). If the evidence is sufficient, the investigator must detain the accused (Article 113 of the Law of Criminal Procedure), temporary release during the investigation is not allowed (Article 83 of its Implementing Regulations), and the accused may still file a grievance against the detention order or its extension (Article 115).

Is a person who reports the crime exempt from punishment?

Yes, in a specific case. Article 61 exempts from punishment any offender, unless he is the instigator, who reports the crime to the authorities before they know of it. If the report comes after the authorities know, he is exempt only if his report leads to the arrest of the other offenders, where this is possible. The exemption is issued by a reasoned decision of the head of the Public Prosecution under Article 38 of the Implementing Regulations. An attempt to commit the dealing crimes in Article 38(1) is punished with imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine of up to SAR 50,000 (Article 59). For Articles 37 and 38, the court may go below the minimum prison term for valid reasons stated in its judgment (Article 60).

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical solutions for the accused and his family

If you are the accused:

• Ask for a lawyer from the first stage. The difference between Articles 37 and 38 can be decades.
• Do not give statements about the source or destination of the substance before you understand how they affect the charge. If Arabic is not your language, ask for an interpreter.
• Review with your lawyer whether the arrest and search were lawful, how the seized items were sealed, and the laboratory report.
• If you have information that could help uncover the network, discuss its effect under Article 61 with your lawyer before taking any step.

If you are a family member:

• Follow the case only through a licensed lawyer, and do not deal with middlemen who promise results.
• Watch for any precautionary seizure that may reach your assets, and keep proof that their source is lawful.
• Collect information about his personal and health circumstances. It may affect how the penalty is decided.

In dealing cases, small details in the arrest record can change the outcome. Contact us confidentially on WhatsApp, and we will explain the accused's rights at the stage the case has reached.