Is Hydrocodone legal in Maldives?

Legal status

Controlled substance under the Drug Act (Act No. 17/2011, as amended by the Third Amendment ratified 6 December 2025). Hydrocodone is a 1961 Single Convention Schedule I opioid.

Consequences if caught

The Third Amendment to the Drugs Act, ratified 6 December 2025, raises Schedule 1 trafficking to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of MVR 75,000 to MVR 7,500,000, and permits elevation to the death penalty where the quantity brought into the country at the point of entry exceeds 350 g of cannabis, 250 g of diamorphine or 100 g of any other Schedule 1 drug; execution requires the unanimous agreement of every justice of the Supreme Court sitting as a full bench. The Schedule 1 list is not reproduced in the ratification record, so this substance's Schedule 1 placement is left to confirmation.

If prescribed or medical

Prescription availability NOT CONFIRMED. The Maldives furnished INCB no hydrocodone estimate for 2026 - but its narcotic return lists only four substances (fentanyl, methadone, morphine, pethidine), so the absence cannot be read as a positive finding of non-availability the way Iraq's or Jordan's can. It is simply not recorded either way.

Documentation

Carry a prescription and original packaging and declare controlled medicines. The Maldives Food and Drug Authority publishes national medicines rules but is not an allowlisted source for this project, so nothing is quoted from it here.

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