An Egyptian television presenter and social media influencer was sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of belonging to an organized crime gang that imported chemical substances used to manufacture and traffic illegal drugs.
Sara Khalifa, 39, was convicted along with 11 other members of the criminal organization after authorities uncovered drug laboratories hidden in two apartments in Egypt’s capital. Khalifa, who has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, is best known to the Egyptian public for hosting the popular crime program “Mission Impossible.”
Khalifa’s role in the trafficking network was uncovered after armed police forces seized more than 750 kilograms of synthetic drugs, along with raw chemicals, weapons, and ammunition, during raids last year on two apartments in Cairo.
According to reports in Egypt’s state-owned newspapers Al-Ahram and Akhbar Al-Youm, the gang was convicted of establishing a criminal organization specializing in obtaining materials used to produce drugs for the purpose of trafficking them, as well as possessing firearms and ammunition without a license.
The gang was also accused of manufacturing synthetic drugs after importing raw materials from outside the country.
Prosecutors told the court that Khalifa, who also owns a plastic surgery clinic and an event production company, effectively financed the cartel and traveled abroad to communicate directly with international crime bosses.
The prosecution presented 20 testimonies, alongside a range of digital evidence, including recorded conversations and incriminating video footage.
Khalifa disputes allegations, verdict subject to appeal
Khalifa strongly denies the allegations against her, and the verdict is currently subject to appeal. When questioned by the judge in September of last year about her alleged involvement in the case, she claimed that she had never seen drugs until she was filmed next to them at the offices of the local anti-narcotics authority.
The death sentences of the network’s members were approved and officially announced on Saturday, after the case was referred for the nonbinding opinion of Egypt’s Grand Mufti, a step required by law in death penalty cases in the country.
Of the 28 defendants who stood trial, 12 were sentenced to death by hanging, nine were sentenced to life imprisonment, and seven others were acquitted.
In addition to the death sentence, Khalifa and several other defendants were sentenced to five years in prison in a separate case involving the kidnapping and physical assault of a young man.
All 12 individuals sentenced to death have the legal right to appeal their sentences before Egypt’s Court of Cassation.