The death penalty for drug offences
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International law restricts the death penalty, where it still exists, to the most serious crimes, and United Nations bodies have made clear more than once that drug offences do not belong to that category. Despite this, some states go on sentencing people to death and executing them for trafficking or possession of narcotics: in certain years these executions are a substantial share of the world total.
This page collects the news on death sentences and executions for drug offences.
Latest news
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 52 executions between January 5 to 14
On murder and drug charges
JANUARY 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed on January 13IRAN 4 men executed on January 13
Mostafa Hemmati, Abbas Sharifi, Seyed Mohammad Attari, Moharram Sarchami
JANUARY 12, 2026SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: TWO CONVICTED DRUG TRAFFICKERS EXECUTED
A 62-year-old and a 54-year-old, both Singaporeans, who were convicted of having in their possession controlled drugs for the purpose of trafficking, had their capital sentences carried out on 9 January 2026.
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed on January 8
- JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men 1 woman executed on January 7
2nd woman of 2026
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 men executed in various prisons on January 6
- JANUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 16 men executed on January 4
DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR report on widespread and systematic drug executions
- DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men executed on December 31
Samad Azizi, Niazali Yari, Sohbat Fathi, Meysam Naseri, Amir Jafari-Rad, Erfan Sheikh Eslami + 3
DECEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 9 men executed in various prisons on December 30
Sajjad Veysi, Ali Akbar Barzegar, Peyman Zamani, Yahya Panahi Rad, Amin Khosroabadi, Mahmoud Zarei, Khodarahm Ahmadi, Ali Mohammad Dastar, Mansour Rigi
- DECEMBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 6 men executed in various prisons on December 29
Soheil Bakhtiari, Sobhan Safizadeh, Amir Mahdi Navabi, Sina Nadari, Marvan Emadabadi, Yaser Khatibi
- DECEMBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed on December 29
Shoja Asgari, Heshmat Fallahi + 2
DECEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in various prisons on December 25
Amin Safari, Majid Khani, Heshmat Beigi
- DECEMBER 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 12 men executed in various prisons on December 24
Masoud Moradi, Yaghoob Masoumi, Mohammad-Mehdi Adavi, Ebrahim Alizadeh, Mehdi Rajabali Zadeh, Nouraddin Panahi, Mohammad Nourian, Khodakaram Safapour, Nemat Khosravi, Noushad Kazemian, Nazir ... and Ayoub Dehqani
- DECEMBER 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed in various prisons on December 24
Yarmohammad Saljouqi, Jahanshah Rashidian, Behrouz Sheikhi, … Rastegari
- DECEMBER 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men executed in various prisons on December 21
Fariborz Ghasemi, Reza Dastar, Kazem Sourian, Vahid Pazouki, Ali Mohammad Koushki, Amir Mohammad Jadidi, Fardin Khani, Ebrahim Mashayekhi + 1
DECEMBER 3, 2025IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THREE DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A court in Baghdad sentenced three alleged drug dealers to death after they were found in possession of 18 kilograms of narcotics, The New Region reported on November 30, 2025.
DECEMBER 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Isfahan on December 2
- DECEMBER 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed in Yazd on December 2
Ali Neirang, Jalal Khorshidi and Mahmoud Abdollahi + 1
DECEMBER 1, 2025SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE EXECUTES THREE MEN FOR DRUG OFFENCES OVER TWO DAYS
Singapore hanged three people for drug offences on 26 and 27 November 2025, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003.
NOVEMBER 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Isfahan on November 18
Karvan Abdolaziz, Yahya Karami, Saman Abbasi, Akbar Faraji, Moslem Naderi
- NOVEMBER 13, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Iraj Aghayi executed in Sari on November 13
- NOVEMBER 3, 2025IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: TWO DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on November 3, 2025 sentenced two convicted drug traffickers to death, after they were caught in possession of 102 kilograms of Captagon and an additional 96 kilograms of hashish.
OCTOBER 30, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT APPROVES HARSH NEW ANTI-DRUG LAW
Kuwait’s Cabinet has approved a comprehensive new anti-narcotics law that introduces random drug testing for military and civilian employees,
OCTOBER 22, 2025IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA TO REPATRIATE TWO BRITISH NATIONALS, INCLUDING A GRANDMOTHER ON DEATH ROW
Indonesia signed an agreement on October 21, 2025 to repatriate two British nationals, including a seriously ill grandmother who had been on death row for more than a decade on drug charges, a minister said.
OCTOBER 8, 2025SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER HANGED IN 12TH EXECUTION THIS YEAR
Singapore’s prison hanged a Malaysian drug trafficker on October 8, 2025, marking the second execution in two weeks and raising the number of executions in the city-state to 12 this year despite pressure to abolish the death penalty.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE EXECUTES MALAYSIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER IN THE CITY-STATE’S 11TH EXECUTION OF THE YEAR
A Malaysian man was hanged in Singapore on September 25, 2025 for drug trafficking, raising the number of executions in the city-state to 11 this year despite renewed calls to abolish the death penalty.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men execute in Ghezel Hesar on September 17
Ali Esmaili, Majid Hosseini, Omid Hassanzadeh, Rahman Sarlak, Babak Shahbazi + Unk Afghan
SEPTEMBER 10, 2025IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING ECSTASY PILLS
A North Sumatra court on September 4, 2025 sentenced 36-year-old M. Alfarisi to death for acting as a courier in the trafficking of nearly 4,833 ecstasy pills.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2025Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POSSESSING AND TRAFFICKING HEROIN
Colombo High Court Judge R.S.S. Sapuwidha on September 4, 2025 sentenced a 52-year-old married woman to death after finding her guilty of possessing and trafficking 41.65 grams of heroin.