Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Cairo criminal court has delivered a landmark verdict in a sprawling drug trafficking case, sentencing prominent television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging. The court found the 39-year-old host of the crime-focused show "Mission Impossible" and her co-defendants guilty of forming an organised criminal gang that imported materials to manufacture synthetic drugs for trafficking, while also possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
The court's decision, which came after the mandatory consultation with Egypt's Grand Mufti for a non-binding religious opinion on the capital sentences, also saw nine other defendants handed life imprisonment, while seven were acquitted. The case, which involved 28 defendants originally, was built on testimony from 20 witnesses and extensive technical and digital evidence, including messages, photographs, and videos that prosecutors said documented the group's criminal activities.
Khalifa, who has vehemently denied the charges, reacted to the sentencing with a defiant post on X, stating, "I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I swear to God, I'm innocent". The state-linked Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the court convicted Khalifa and the others of forming "an organised criminal gang specialising in procuring materials used in manufacturing narcotics, with the intent to traffic them".
The prosecution's case was bolstered by the seizure of more than 750 kilogrammes of narcotics and raw materials, as well as the discovery of two apartments that were being used as laboratories for drug production. Investigators also recovered unlicensed firearms and ammunition from the group. According to the prosecution, members of the gang divided roles among themselves, with some responsible for importing raw materials, others for manufacturing the drugs, and others for distribution.
In a separate but related case, the court also sentenced Khalifa and others to five years in prison for the kidnapping and assault of a young man, adding to the severity of the punishment. The verdict, which was first announced last month, was only confirmed after the court obtained the religious opinion from the Grand Mufti, a legal requirement in all capital cases in Egypt.
Khalifa, who also owns a plastic surgery clinic and a production company, has 2.5 million followers on Instagram and was briefly married to former Egyptian footballer Mahmoud Kharaba. Her lawyer has confirmed she will appeal the death sentence to the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest criminal court. The case has drawn international attention, with rights groups noting that Egypt issued some 541 death sentences in 2025 alone. As the legal process continues, the fate of Sarah Khalifa and her co-defendants hangs in the balance, pending the outcome of their appeal.
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