Australians are being cautioned about visiting a highly favored tourist destination following the expansion of the death penalty by the local authorities.

The Maldives plans to enforce stricter punishments for drug-related crimes starting March 2026, including the death penalty, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and hefty fines.

Although drug offences might be relatively common in Australia, SmartTraveller has issued a warning that possession of even a minimal amount of illegal substances in the Maldives could lead to trafficking charges.

This includes marijuana or cannabis-derived items such as edibles, cannabis oil, creams, hemp, hash, CBD, and THC products.

Having a medical prescription does not legalize these substances.

“If you bring such products into the Maldives, buy or use them there, you risk arrest and could face prison time, fines, deportation, life without parole, or the death penalty,” SmartTraveller cautioned.

“Do not possess or use illegal drugs in Maldives.”

Drug-related crime typically occurs in urban areas, including Greater Malé and inhabited non-resort islands.

Republic of the Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said the harsher rules would crack down on drug use and addiction.

“One of the most important goals of this government is to save society from the scourge of drugs and build a generation free from drugs,” he said in a statement in July.

But his decision has drawn ire from international human rights organisations, which say the death penalty violates human rights and the country’s international commitments on two grounds: introducing the death penalty for a crime not previously punishable by death and restricting the death penalty for the most serious crimes.

“The introduction of the death penalty for drug-related offences would lead to additional violations to the already alarming human rights record of the Maldives, including in connection to its use of the death penalty,” nine human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said in a joint statement in August.

The Maldives also has the death penalty for serious crimes such as murder. 

The Maldives is an archipelagic country consisting of more than 1000 islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India.

It is famed for its idyllic resorts and is particularly popular among honeymooners.

But the current civil unrest and threat of terrorism in non-resort areas have SmartTraveller advising Australians to exercise an overall high degree of caution when travelling to the country.