No, you cannot let anything execute from the drive. First thing it might do is load into memory then wipe the contents of the drive. That’s a great way to destroy evidence. I would image the drive then analyze copies in isolation. Maybe, eventually “load” a copy on an isolated and instrumented system to see what it tried to do.
Of more concern are USB drives that destroy a computer via a burst of high voltage from a specialized capacitor. Rare, but these malicious USB sticks exist.