Popular Egyptian television presenter and producer Sarah Khalifa has been sentenced to death by hanging alongside 11 other defendants after a Cairo criminal court convicted them in one of Egypt’s most closely watched drug trafficking cases.
The ruling was handed down on Saturday, September 5, 2026, in the case widely referred to by Egyptian media as the “Major Drugs Case.” Khalifa and the other defendants were convicted of participating in an organized criminal network accused of obtaining materials used to manufacture synthetic narcotics for distribution and trafficking.
Prosecutors also accused members of the group of possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition in connection with the alleged criminal operation.
According to Egyptian authorities, the investigation uncovered more than 750 kilograms of narcotics and drug-manufacturing materials. Reports said two apartments were allegedly being used as laboratories to manufacture synthetic drugs.
The case involved a total of 28 defendants. While Khalifa and 11 others received death sentences, the court handed life imprisonment to nine defendants and acquitted another seven.
The death sentences were issued after the court consulted Egypt’s Grand Mufti, a required procedural step before capital punishment can be imposed in such cases.
Khalifa, 39, is well known in Egyptian entertainment circles as a television personality and producer. She was arrested in April 2025 as authorities intensified their investigation into the alleged trafficking network.
Her conviction has quickly attracted international attention because of her public profile and the severity of the punishment.
However, the legal battle may not be over.
Egypt Today reported that criminal court judgments of this nature are generally subject to appeal, meaning the death sentence is not necessarily the final stage of the case.
The dramatic ruling has now placed Sarah Khalifa at the center of one of Egypt’s biggest celebrity-linked criminal cases, with further legal developments likely to be closely watched across the region.
