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# Egyptian TV Presenter Sarah Khalifa Sentenced to Death in Major Drug Case
- URL: https://www.theglobalvoice.com/egyptian-tv-presenter-sarah-khalifa-sentenced-to-death-in-major-drug-case/
- Published: 2026-09-06T14:12:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-06T14:12:09.000Z
- Description: Cairo court hands down capital punishment to TV host Sarah Khalifa and 11 co-defendants in major narcotics manufacturing and trafficking case.
- Author: TGV Desk
- Tags: politics, Top Stories, snap, middle-east, has-audio

An Egyptian court has sentenced television presenter and producer Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging after convicting them of manufacturing and trafficking synthetic drugs in one of the country's most closely watched narcotics cases.

The Cairo Criminal Court delivered the verdict on Saturday in the case known in Egyptian media as the “Major Drugs” case. The death sentences were issued unanimously after the court received the opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti, a procedural requirement before capital punishment can be imposed.

The Mufti's opinion is advisory rather than binding, and the verdict remains subject to appeal.

Khalifa, 39, is a well-known Egyptian media personality and producer. She is best known for presenting “Mission Impossible,” a television programme dealing with security and crime-related issues. She also owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and an event production company. Khalifa has denied the charges against her.

Prosecutors accused Khalifa and the other defendants of forming an organised criminal network that imported raw materials from abroad for the manufacture of synthetic narcotics inside Egypt.

According to the prosecution, different members of the group were assigned separate roles covering the importation of raw materials, drug manufacturing, storage and distribution. Investigators alleged that residential properties were converted into laboratories where the synthetic drugs were produced.

Authorities said they seized more than 750 kilograms of narcotics and raw materials used in their manufacture during the investigation. Police also recovered unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Prosecutors relied on testimony from 20 witnesses as well as digital and technical evidence, including conversations, photographs and video recordings that investigators said documented the group's activities.

Investigators also ordered the defendants' properties and financial holdings to be identified, obtained access to information concerning their bank accounts and froze assets linked to the accused. Fugitive suspects were placed on travel-ban and arrival-watch lists.

The case involved 28 defendants in total. Alongside Khalifa and the 11 others sentenced to death, nine defendants received life imprisonment while seven were acquitted.

Khalifa and some of the other defendants were also convicted in a separate case connected to the kidnapping and assault of a young man. Reports on the exact sentences in that separate case differ, but authorities said evidence relating to the alleged assault emerged during the wider drug investigation.

The drug investigation began attracting widespread attention in Egypt after Khalifa's arrest because of her public profile and the scale of the allegations.

Before confirming the death sentences, the Cairo court had referred the cases of Khalifa and several other defendants to the Grand Mufti in August. Such referrals are mandatory under Egyptian procedure when a criminal court intends to impose a death sentence.

Egypt retains capital punishment for several serious offences, including premeditated murder, terrorism and certain drug-trafficking crimes. According to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, Egyptian courts issued 541 death sentences in 2025.

The sentences handed down on Saturday are therefore not the final stage of the judicial process. Khalifa and the other defendants sentenced to death can challenge their convictions through Egypt's appeals system before the sentences become final and enforceable.