Singapore has executed a 39-year-old man, Mohamed Salleh Adul Latiff, who was convicted of trafficking heroin. This marks the city-state’s fifth hanging this year and the third in just over a week. Mohamed Salleh was found guilty of possessing around 55 grams of heroin for trafficking in 2019.
He was executed on Thursday, according to a statement by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). During his trial, Mohamed Salleh claimed that he believed he was delivering contraband cigarettes for a friend to whom he owed money. However, he was sentenced to death for his crime.
Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, Mohamed Salleh became the 16th prisoner to be executed in the country.
This execution comes less than a week after Singapore executed its first woman in almost 20 years for drug trafficking, despite international condemnation from rights groups. The United Nations has called for Singapore to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, but the country maintains that it is an effective deterrent against drug trafficking.
Singapore has some of the world’s strictest anti-drug laws, with trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin punishable by the death penalty.