Legal status in Cabo Verde

Per-substance legal status for Cabo Verde, from sourced statutes where available. Legal information, not legal advice; drug laws change, so confirm with the destination’s embassy or drug authority before you travel.

22 confirmed substances66 not individually verifiedLast updated October 4, 2026

Confirmed legal status

2C-B

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: 2C-B is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

2C-B in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Benzodiazepines

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Benzodiazepines is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Benzodiazepines in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Cannabis / THC

Legal status: Cannabis is a controlled drug under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, trafficking carries imprisonment; no legal recreational or medical regime; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Cannabis is a controlled drug in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law), with no legal recreational regime. In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Cannabis / THC in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Cathinone

Legal status: Controlled. Cathinone is in Table I, part B of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 532 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «CATINONA», chemical name «(-) amino-2 propiofenona-(S)», in the list of substances in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention. Its weaker relative cathine is printed separately as «CATINA» in Table III, part A, on page 533. The khat leaf that carries both is not itself named in any table, which is a separate question for the khat row. The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route exists. Table I is the column the page 528 chart heads «PROIBIÇÃO TOTAL», total prohibition, as against «PROIBIÇÃO SEM AUTORIZAÇÃO» over the other three, and cathinone has no medical use.
Documentation: Cathinone is a high risk drug under article 1(3) in the totally prohibited column. No document makes carrying it lawful.

Cathinone in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Cocaine

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Cocaine is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Cocaine in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Crack Cocaine

Legal status: Controlled. Crack cocaine is in Table II, part A of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 529 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «COCAINA (ester metílico da benzoilecgonina)», with coca leaf as «COCA (folhas de)» and, on page 530, «ECGONINA» with its esters and derivatives convertible into ecgonine and cocaine, in the list of narcotic drugs in Schedule I of the 1961 Convention. Crack is cocaine in its free base form, which is the substance the entry names; the hydrochloride powder is brought in by the salts line that closes the list. The Law draws no distinction between the two forms, and the penalty is the same. The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route is stated for smoked cocaine base. Preparations containing at most 0,1% cocaine are printed in the list of «PREPARAÇÕES INCLUIDAS NO QUADRO III», which the page 528 chart assigns to no table, and crack is not such a preparation.
Documentation: Crack cocaine is a high risk drug under article 1(3). No document makes carrying it lawful.

Crack Cocaine in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Delta-8-THC

Legal status: Controlled. Delta-8-THC is in Table I, part B of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 532 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «TETRAHIDROCANABINOIS», with a single chemical name that begins «hidroxi-1 pentil-3 tetrahidro-6a, 7, 10, 10a trimetil-6, 6, 9» and ends with the 6H dibenzo[b,d]pyran ring, in the list of substances in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention. That chemical name is the delta-8 isomer: PubChem gives delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol, CID 638026, as (6aR,10aR)-6,6,9-trimethyl-3-pentyl-6a,7,10,10a-tetrahydrobenzo[c]chromen-1-ol, while delta-9-THC, CID 16078, is the 6a,7,8,10a isomer, and the 2024 INCB Green List names the 6a,7,10,10a compound «delta-8-THC». The heading is plural, and whether it reaches other THC isomers is not settled by the text, but delta-8 is the one the printed name describes, so it is caught on any reading. Cannabis itself is printed as «CANABIS (cânhamo indiano) e RESINA DE CANABIS (resina de cânhamo indiano)» in the 1961 Schedule I list and as «CANNABIS E RESINA DE CANNABIS» in the 1961 Schedule IV list, so it sits in both Table II, part A, and Table I, part A. The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route exists. Table I is the column the page 528 chart heads «PROIBIÇÃO TOTAL».
Documentation: Delta-8-THC is a high risk drug under article 1(3) in the totally prohibited column. A label calling a product hemp derived does not change that. No document makes carrying it lawful.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, articles 1, 3 to 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 20 and 21 and the annexed tables, as republished by Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993, pages 521 to 534, in the scanned copy published by the Comissão de Coordenação do Álcool e outras Drogas, read on 3 October 2026 · ccad.cv · ccad.cv · Expresso das Ilhas, 7 January 2020, quoting the Government's request for legislative authority · expressodasilhas.cv · boe.incv.cv search for «estupefacientes» among Leis, run 3 October 2026 · boe.incv.cv · INCB Green List, 35th edition, 2024, in the Swissmedic copy · swissmedic.ch · PubChem CID 638026 · pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · PubChem CID 16078 · pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · Updated October 4, 2026

Delta-8-THC in Cabo Verde, full detail →

DMT

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: DMT is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

DMT in Cabo Verde, full detail →

DOM

Legal status: Controlled. DOM is in Table I, part B of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 532 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «STP-DOM», chemical name «dimetoxi-2,5 dimetil-4 alfa-fenetilamina», in the list of substances in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention. Its bromo and ethyl analogues are listed on the same page as «BROLAMFETAMINA», «DOB» and «DOET». The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route exists. Table I is the column the page 528 chart heads «PROIBIÇÃO TOTAL».
Documentation: DOM is a high risk drug under article 1(3) in the totally prohibited column. No document makes carrying it lawful.

DOM in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Ephedrine

Legal status: Controlled as a precursor. Ephedrine is in Table IV of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 528 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «Efedrina» in the column the page 528 chart heads «PERCURSORES», in the list of precursors, beside lysergic acid, ergometrine, ergotamine, pseudoephedrine, acetone, anthranilic acid, acetic anhydride, ethyl ether, piperidine and phenylacetone, with the line «Os sais das substâncias inscritas no presente quadro, em todos os casos em que a existência destes sais é possivel». Being in Table IV does not make ephedrine a drug a person may not hold. Every Table IV offence needs knowledge that it is or will be used to make narcotics or psychotropics illicitly. The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Table IV is not a list of drugs a person may not hold. Article 5(1) punishes producing, offering, selling, buying, transporting, importing or exporting a Table IV substance «sabendo que são ou vão ser utilizados no cultivo, produção ou fabrico ilícitos de estupefacientes ou substâncias psicotrópicas» with two to ten years, and article 5(2) punishes holding it with that same knowledge with one to five years. Article 6(a) gives one to five years where the unlawfulness is considerably diminished, article 8 raises the limits by a quarter in the aggravated cases, and article 11(1) reaches a group formed for those crimes with ten to twenty years. Articles 9 and 20, the personal use provisions, are written for Tables I to III and do not reach Table IV. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment. Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription offence attaches to holding an ephedrine medicine for its medical purpose, because article 5 needs knowledge of illicit manufacture and articles 9 and 20 do not reach Table IV. Portaria n.º 49/2023 covers medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances, and ephedrine, a precursor, is neither: it is in none of the 1993 penal lists other than Table IV, not on the 2024 Green List and not in the 1961 schedules as at 6 June 2024, so the special control prescription does not apply on any reading.
Documentation: No document is required by this Law for an ephedrine medicine held for its own use. Carry it in its labelled pack; a quantity out of proportion to personal use invites the article 5 question of what it is for.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, articles 1, 3 to 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 20 and 21 and the annexed tables, as republished by Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993, pages 521 to 534, in the scanned copy published by the Comissão de Coordenação do Álcool e outras Drogas, read on 3 October 2026 · ccad.cv · ccad.cv · Expresso das Ilhas, 7 January 2020, quoting the Government's request for legislative authority · expressodasilhas.cv · boe.incv.cv search for «estupefacientes» among Leis, run 3 October 2026 · boe.incv.cv · Portaria n.º 49/2023, de 15 de novembro, articles 2 to 7 · boe.incv.cv · INCB Green List, 35th edition, 2024, in the Swissmedic copy · swissmedic.ch · Schedules of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as at 6 June 2024, ST/CND/1/Add.1/Rev.11 · documents.un.org · Updated October 4, 2026

Ephedrine in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Fentanyl

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Fentanyl is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Fentanyl in Cabo Verde, full detail →

GHB

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: GHB is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

GHB in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Heroin

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Heroin is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Heroin in Cabo Verde, full detail →

LSD

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: LSD is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

LSD in Cabo Verde, full detail →

MDA

Legal status: Controlled. MDA is in Table I, part B of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 532 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «TENAMFETAMINA», with «MDA» as its other name and chemical name «alfa-metil (metilenodioxi)-3,4 fenetilamina», in the list of substances in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention. Its N-ethyl and N-hydroxy derivatives are listed beside it, and MDMA as «MDMA». The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route exists. Table I is the column the page 528 chart heads «PROIBIÇÃO TOTAL».
Documentation: MDA is a high risk drug under article 1(3) in the totally prohibited column. No document makes carrying it lawful.

MDA in Cabo Verde, full detail →

MDMA

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: MDMA is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

MDMA in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Mescaline

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Mescaline is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Mescaline in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Methamphetamine

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Methamphetamine is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Methamphetamine in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Methaqualone (Quaaludes)

Legal status: Controlled. Methaqualone is in Table II, part B of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 533 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «METAQUALONE», in the list of substances in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention. Its chlorinated analogue is printed separately as «MECLOQUALONE» in the same list. The page 528 chart prints «Substâncias de PPI» under part B of Table II, the same words it prints under part B of Table I, and page 529 defines PP I as Schedule I of the 1971 Convention. Read literally, the chart therefore gives the 1971 Schedule II list printed on page 533 no column. But that list is printed in the annex, and article 1(2) says the substances the Law governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas»; Table III is defined as Schedules III and IV of the 1971 Convention and Table IV is the precursor list, so a substance printed in the 1971 Schedule II list can sit only in Table I or Table II. This cell reads it as Table II, part B, which is the author's reading of a misprint, not a printed fact. Articles 3, 6(a), 9(1), 12(1) and 20 treat Tables I and II alike, so the penalty is the same on either reading. The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route is stated. Articles 3 and 4 punish only conduct «sem se encontrar autorizado», but no medicine containing methaqualone was looked for, the national medicines list was not read, and Decreto-Lei n.º 92/92, which governs authorisation, was not located.
Documentation: Methaqualone is a high risk drug under article 1(3). No document that would make carrying it lawful was identified, so do not travel with it.

Methaqualone (Quaaludes) in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Opium

Legal status: Controlled. Opium is in Table II, part A of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 530 of Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 as «OPIO», with poppy straw concentrate printed on page 529 as «CONCENTRADO DE FOLHA DE PAPOILA», in the list of narcotic drugs in Schedule I of the 1961 Convention. Morphine, codeine and thebaine, the alkaloids it carries, are each listed by name, morphine and thebaine in the same list and codeine in the 1961 Schedule II list on page 531. Preparations of opium containing at most 0,2% morphine, and the compound powder of ipecacuanha and opium with 10% opium, are printed in the list of «PREPARAÇÕES INCLUIDAS NO QUADRO III», which the page 528 chart assigns to no table; such a preparation is not settled by this cell. The tables are read as printed in 1993. The Law gives no power to add a substance by regulation and the tables carry no analogue clause. No amending instrument was found: a search of boe.incv.cv on 3 October 2026 for Leis and Decretos-Leis mentioning «estupefacientes» returned twelve, none of them touching this Law, and the Government's 2020 request for legislative authority, as Expresso das Ilhas reported on 7 January 2020, said the Law «não sofreu alterações passados já mais de 20 anos». The gazette site indexes a single I Série issue for 1993, so this does not rule out a later amendment that the search could not see.
Consequences if caught: Article 3(1) punishes whoever, without authorisation, cultivates, produces, manufactures, prepares, offers, sells, distributes, buys, gives, receives, transports, imports, exports, moves in transit or unlawfully holds plants, substances or preparations in Tables I and II, outside the cases in article 20, and says the offender «é punido com pena de prisão de 4 a 12 anos». Article 6(a) lowers that to one to five years where the unlawfulness is «consideravelmente diminuída», having regard among other things to the quantity. Article 9(1) gives up to three years where the only aim was to obtain the substance for personal use, and article 9(3) withdraws that once the quantity held exceeds average individual consumption over seven days. Article 20(1) punishes consuming, or growing, acquiring or holding for one's own consumption, a quantity small enough to show it was for personal use «com a pena de prisão até três meses ou multa até 30 dias», and article 20(2) lets a first offender who has not reached majority be dispensed from penalty on a solemn undertaking before the magistrate. Article 8 raises the minimum and maximum of the article 3 to 7 penalties by a quarter where, among other cases, the substance went to minors or to many people or the offender sought «avultada compensação remuneratória». Article 11(1) punishes promoting, founding, leading or financing a group of two or more that aims at those crimes with ten to twenty years, and article 19(1) lets the court expel a convicted foreigner for up to fifteen years. No article of the Law provides for death or for life imprisonment; its highest band is article 11(1). Lei n.º 78/IV/93, de 12 de Julho, is Cabo Verde's drug law, read in the full republication that the Rectificação in Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 45 of 29 November 1993 made because the first printing had appeared «de forma incompleta e inexacta». Article 1(2) says the plants, substances and preparations it governs «constam de quatro tabelas anexas ao presente diploma», and article 1(3) calls Tables I and II «drogas de alto risco», Table III «drogas de risco» and Table IV precursors. The classification chart on page 528 fills Table I with substances of Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, and possibly substances of other schedules (part A), and of Schedule I of the 1971 Convention (part B), Table II with Schedules I and II of the 1961 Convention (part A) and psychotropic substances (part B), Table III with Schedules III (part A) and IV (part B) of the 1971 Convention, and Table IV with eleven named precursors. The UN lists, as the annex prints them, follow on pages 529 to 534; they are older than 1993 in places, for the 1971 Schedule II list printed does not carry delta-9-THC.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription route for raw opium is stated. Articles 3 and 4 punish only conduct «sem se encontrar autorizado», but whether any opium medicine is authorised in Cabo Verde was not checked, the national medicines list was not read, and Decreto-Lei n.º 92/92, which governs authorisation, was not located.
Documentation: Opium is a high risk drug under article 1(3). No document that would make carrying it lawful was identified, so do not travel with it.

Opium in Cabo Verde, full detail →

PCP

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: PCP is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

PCP in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Psilocybin

Legal status: Controlled under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model), trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute; the maximum penalty is imprisonment
Consequences if caught: Psilocybin is controlled in Cabo Verde under Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law). In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.
Documentation: In Cabo Verde, drugs fall under Lei n.º 78/IV/93, which follows the Lusophone six-table model. Trafficking carries imprisonment; the precise article and penalty terms are left to confirmation against the current statute. The maximum penalty for a drug offence is imprisonment. A primary statute portal for the current Cabo Verdean drug law was not located; this cell is sourced via the UNODC legal database (unodc.org/cld) and the Library of Congress pending a primary portal. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same law, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (Lusophone six-table model) · unodc.org · loc.gov · Updated June 28, 2026

Psilocybin in Cabo Verde, full detail →

Not individually verified

66 substances are not individually verified for Cabo Verde

For these the governing national drug law is cited, but we have not verified that the substance specifically is scheduled under it. Treat them as unanswered, not as legal. Confirm with Cabo Verde’s drug authority or your embassy.

Substance	What we found
1P-LSD	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 1p lsd...
2-FDCK	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 2 fdck...
25I-NBOMe	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
2C-E	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 2c e...
2C-I	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 2C-I...
2C-T-7	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 2C-T-7...
3-MMC	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 3 mmc...
4-AcO-DMT	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 4 aco...
4-HO-MET	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 4 ho...
5-MeO-DMT (Bufo / Toad)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 5 meo...
6-APB	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 6 apb...
7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for 7...
Adderall	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Alcohol	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Amanita muscaria	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Amphetamine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Amyl Nitrite	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for amyl...
Ayahuasca	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Barbiturates	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Buprenorphine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Caffeine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Cannabinol	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
CBD	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for cbd in...
Clonazepam	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Codeine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Diazepam	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
DXM	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for dxm in...
Etizolam	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Gabapentin	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
GBL	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for gbl in...
HHC	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for hhc in...
Hydrocodone	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Ketamine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Khat	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for Khat...
Kratom	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for Kratom...
Lorazepam	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
LSA (Morning Glory)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for lsa in...
MDPV	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for mdpv...
Memantine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Mephedrone (4-MMC)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Methadone	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Methylone	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Methylphenidate	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Mitragynine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Modafinil	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Morphine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
MXE	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for mxe in...
Nicotine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Nimetazepam	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Nitrous Oxide	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Oxycodone	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Peyote	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for Peyote...
Phenibut	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Pink Cocaine / Tusi	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for pink...
Poppers	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Pregabalin	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Quetiapine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Salvia divinorum	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for Salvia...
Scopolamine (Devil's Breath)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2 / Spice)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
THC-P	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for thc p...
Tobacco	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Tramadol	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Xanax (Alprazolam)	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Xylazine	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...
Zolpidem	Not confirmed, Lei n.º 78/IV/93 (the drug law) is the governing drug law; the specific scheduling/penalty for...

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary by country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with the destination’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.

Before you travel

Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.

If you’re detained or arrested abroad

Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately, not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →

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