Egyptian TV presenter, 39, and 11 others are sentenced to death over drugs
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
An Egyptian television presenter, Sara Khalifa, has been sentenced to death by hanging alongside 11 co-defendants after being convicted of manufacturing and trafficking drugs in Cairo. The 39-year-old, best known for fronting the crime-focused programme Mission Impossible and with over 2.5 million Instagram followers, was found guilty of forming an organised criminal gang that produced narcotics-making materials for trafficking and possessed unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
Egyptian authorities seized more than 750kg of narcotics and raw materials, and uncovered two apartments used as drug laboratories along with unlicensed weapons. The defendants, who also owns a production company, were accused of importing materials for synthetic drug production from abroad, and the verdict followed consultation with Egypt's Grand Mufti, as required by law in capital cases. Khalifa was separately sentenced to five years in prison over the kidnapping and assault of a young man; Egypt applies the death penalty for offences including drug trafficking, terrorism and premeditated murder, having issued 541 death sentences last year according to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.
- TV presenter Sara Khalifa sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Egypt
- 11 co-defendants also sentenced; 750kg of narcotics seized
- Khalifa also given five years for separate kidnapping and assault case
Full account
An Egyptian television presenter has been sentenced to death alongside 11 other defendants after a Cairo court convicted them of manufacturing and trafficking synthetic drugs. Sara Khalifa, 39, is well known in Egypt for fronting Mission Impossible, a programme focused on crime and security matters, and has amassed more than 2.5 million followers on Instagram. State-linked media reported that she and her co-defendants were found guilty of forming an organised criminal gang that produced the raw materials used to manufacture narcotics, with a view to trafficking them, and of possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
According to the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, investigators seized more than 750kg of narcotics and precursor chemicals, along with unlicensed weapons, and identified two flats that had been converted into makeshift drug laboratories. Prosecutors alleged the gang imported the materials needed to produce the drugs from abroad. The case drew on testimony from around 20 witnesses as well as electronic evidence, including recorded conversations and video footage, gathered during the investigation.
Khalifa, who also runs a production company, has denied the charges against her. She reportedly told the court, when questioned by the judge about her alleged involvement, that she had never seen the drugs in question until she was photographed with them at the offices of the anti-narcotics authority. The death sentence was initially handed down last month but was only formally confirmed this week, once the court had sought a religious opinion from the Grand Mufti of Egypt, a step required by law before capital punishment can be upheld. The ruling can still be appealed. Separately, Khalifa was also given a five-year prison term in a distinct case concerning the kidnapping and assault of a young man.
Egypt retains the death penalty for offences including premeditated murder, terrorism, certain rape charges and drug trafficking, and rights groups say it remains one of the world's most frequent users of capital punishment. Figures on its scale vary depending on the source cited: the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms recorded 541 death sentences issued last year, while Amnesty International's 2025 report put the figure at 492 death sentences, of which 23 were carried out. Amnesty has also criticised the use of the death penalty in cases such as drug trafficking and rape, arguing that such offences do not meet the threshold of intentional killing to which capital punishment should be restricted under international law.
Where outlets differ
Spelling of the presenter's first name varies between reports: 'Sarah' in one account and 'Sara' in the other.
Source 1 (drawing on Al-Ahram) foregrounds the scale of the seizure — 750kg of narcotics, two drug 'laboratories', firearms — and separately notes Khalifa's five-year sentence in an unrelated kidnapping and assault case, which the BBC account omits entirely.
Source 2 (BBC) gives more procedural detail, noting the verdict was first announced a month earlier and only confirmed after the Grand Mufti's opinion, that Khalifa denies the charges and gave an account of her defence in court (citing Akhbar al-Youm), and that the sentence can be appealed — none of which appear in the Mail's account.
The two outlets cite different, non-matching statistics and sources for the scale of Egypt's use of the death penalty: the Mail cites the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (541 death sentences last year), while the BBC cites Amnesty International (492 in 2025, with 23 executions), and only the BBC includes Amnesty's criticism that drug and rape convictions should not attract capital punishment.
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