In his announcements last evening, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu said that he has instructed the concerned agencies to modify the amendments to the Drugs Act to include greater punishments, including capital punishment, for drug trafficking.

In his post on X, President Muizzu stated, as is the norm in some other nations, he plans to implement more severe punishments including the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking.

The President did explain that the government is hoping to achieve the goal of raising and creating a drug-free generation, as well as the eradication of the social evils caused due to drugs.

The government did announce last year that the death penalty was part of the drafted bill of amendments to the Drugs Act. This, however, was not included in the version of the bill that was brought to parliament last year.

Reports claim that during that time, the government was looking to emulate a version of the Singaporean approach to applying the death penalty for those who deal with drugs.

According to the provisions of the Drugs Act, drug trafficking is punishable by a life sentence and a fine of between MVR 100,000 to MVR 10 million.