Capital punishment for drug trafficking

Being involved in the illegal drug trade in certain countries, which may include illegally importing, exporting, selling or possession of significant amounts of drugs, constitutes a capital offence and may result in capital punishment for drug trafficking, or possession assumed to be for drug trafficking. There are also extrajudicial executions of suspected drug users and traffickers in at least 2 countries without drug death penalties by law: Mexico and Philippines.

As of December 2022 Harm Reduction International (HRI) reports 3700+ people are on death row for drug offences worldwide. For 2022 HRI reports at least 285 executions by law for drug offences globally in 6 countries. 252+ in Iran. 22 in Saudi Arabia. 11 in Singapore. Exact numbers are not possible due to "extreme opacity" in some countries: China, North Korea, and Vietnam.

A Harm Reduction International global overview of 2022 reported: "HRI has identified 35 countries and territories that retain the death penalty for drug offences in law. Only a small number of these countries carry out executions for drug offences regularly. In fact, six of these states are classified by Amnesty International as abolitionist in practice. This means that they have not carried out executions for any crime in the past ten years (although in some cases death sentences are still pronounced), and 'are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.' Other countries have neither sentenced to death nor executed anyone for a drug offence, despite having dedicated laws in place."

A March 2018 report by Harm Reduction International says: "Between January 2015 and December 2017, at least 1,320 people are known to have been executed for drug-related offences – 718 in 2015; 325 in 2016; and 280 in 2017. These estimates do not include China, as reliable figures continue to be unavailable for the country." 1,176 of the 1,320 total were in Iran.

According to a 2011 article by the Lawyers Collective, an NGO in India, "32 countries impose capital punishment for offences involving narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances." A 2015 article by The Economist says that the laws of 32 countries provide for capital punishment for drug smuggling.

Overview
Sentences for drug-related crimes, especially for trafficking, are the strictest in Asian countries. In January 2014, then-President Thein Sein of Myanmar commuted all the country's death sentences to life imprisonment. In South Korea, the law continues to provide for the death penalty for drug offences, although it currently has a moratorium on capital punishment: there have been no executions since 1997, but there are still people on death row, and new death sentences continue to be handed down. While capital punishment has been abolished in the Philippines, the Philippine Drug War has led to thousands of extrajudicial executions against drug traffickers, which are endorsed by president Rodrigo Duterte and his government.

Use by country
Harm Reduction International breaks down nations by high application, low application, symbolic application, and insufficient data.

Note: Asterisk (*) after country name indicates Crime in LOCATION links.


 * High
 * Insufficient data
 * Harm Reduction International reports: "imposition of one death sentence for drug use and trafficking of amphetamines and cannabis resin in June 2022. This is the first drug-related death sentence noted by a reputable source in 11 years".
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 * Insufficient data
 * Harm Reduction International reports: "imposition of one death sentence for drug use and trafficking of amphetamines and cannabis resin in June 2022. This is the first drug-related death sentence noted by a reputable source in 11 years".
 * }
 * Harm Reduction International reports: "imposition of one death sentence for drug use and trafficking of amphetamines and cannabis resin in June 2022. This is the first drug-related death sentence noted by a reputable source in 11 years".
 * }