An amendment to the Drug Act has been drafted that would introduce the death penalty for drug smugglers in the Maldives.
The Drug Act currently sets a penalty of a fine ranging between MVR 100,000 and MVR 10 million and life imprisonment for those convicted of smuggling drugs into the Maldives.
The bill, drafted by the Homeland Security Ministry, proposes the death penalty for smuggling more than a specified amount of drugs listed in Schedule One of the bill. The ministry is preparing to send the bill to the Attorney General’s Office in the near future.
At present, the only crime punishable by death in the Maldives is intentional homicide. The death penalty has not been enforced in the country since 1953.
