An Egyptian court sentenced 12 people, including prominent television host Sarah Khalifa, to death in a wide-ranging drug manufacturing and trafficking case. Television host Sarah Khalifa and 11 others were sentenced to death in the case.
Egyptian state media said Saturday that 39-year-old Khalifa was known for her program "Mission Impossible," which covered security and crime issues.
According to the state-linked Al-Ahram newspaper, the Cairo court sentenced Khalifa and the other 11 defendants to death for "forming an organized criminal group to obtain substances used in the manufacture of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, and possessing and transporting unlicensed firearms and ammunition."
The verdict was announced after the Egyptian mufti was consulted for a religious opinion, in accordance with the procedure required under Egyptian law for offenses carrying the death penalty. The ruling can be appealed.
State broadcaster Akhbar El-Yom said that Khalifa, who also owns a beauty clinic and an event management company, and the other defendants were accused of "manufacturing and trafficking synthetic drugs by importing the raw materials used in their production from abroad."
Al-Ahram reported that law enforcement officers seized more than 750 kilograms of drugs and raw materials during the operations, as well as two apartments used as laboratories and numerous unlicensed firearms and rounds of ammunition. The court also sentenced Khalifa and some of the defendants to five years in prison each in a separate case involving the kidnapping and assault of a young man.
Egypt applies the death penalty in cases involving premeditated murder, terrorism, certain sexual assault offenses and drug trafficking. According to data from the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, 541 death sentences were issued in the country in 2025.
