National Drug Agency (NDA) Chairperson Lubna Zahir has called for individuals found to be importing illegal narcotics into the Maldives to face the death penalty, local media has reported.
Speaking on state broadcaster Television Maldives (TVM), Lubna was reported as saying that the death penalty should be imposed for those who bring drugs into the country, adding that it needs to be in the same category as murder.
The comments were made after the recent deaths of a number of individuals who had taken a fake version of LSD circulated in the Maldives.
“We can only prevent drugs from coming into the Maldives by implementing the death penalty against them. Importing drugs is not a less serious crime,” Lubna was quoted by the Sun Online news service as telling the state broadcaster. “One solution to this is to implement the death penalty against those who bring in drugs and commit murder.”
Lubna requested parliament to include the death penalty as the most severe punishment for drug smugglers, when passing relevant laws.