Is Opium legal in Cabo Verde?

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 or 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.

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