Egyptian presenter Sara Khalifa, who was involved in drug trafficking, has been sentenced to death by hanging.

The Cairo Criminal Court in Egypt has sentenced 12 individuals, including prominent television presenter and media producer Sarah Khalifa, to death by hanging. This verdict was announced on September 5, 2026, after consulting the advisory opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti.

In a case related to organized synthetic drug trafficking, 28 defendants were prosecuted, with 9 of them sentenced to life imprisonment and 7 acquitted.

Foreign media reported that Sarah Khalifa shouted her innocence when the verdict was announced. The group sentenced to death was also fined 500,000 Egyptian pounds, and the convicts have the right to appeal to the Court of Cassation. They were found guilty of forming an organized crime gang, importing chemicals from abroad for the production of synthetic drugs, manufacturing drugs for trafficking, and possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Two main operators related to this incident have currently fled the area and have been issued travel bans.

Although international media reports stated Sarah Khalifa's age as 39, according to Arab biodata sources, she was born on March 29, 1994, making her 32 years old. With 2.5 to 2.7 million followers on Instagram, she was known as a television personality, event organizer, and businesswoman. Her media career began with children's programs on the ART channel, and she later worked as a presenter on Iraq's Al-Sharqiya channel and on the crime program "Mission Impossible." In 2021, she founded "Sarah Production," and in 2024, she presented a YouTube comedy program with Hamo Bika and also ran an aesthetics clinic in Agouza, Cairo.

She claimed to have secretly married footballer Mahmoud "Kahraba" Abdel Razek for six months in 2016, but he later denied it. The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate stated that she is not a registered journalist and has impersonated one. Furthermore, there are discrepancies between the published information about her law and media degrees and the primary-level education details found in interrogation reports. With this news, many media outlets are using her private Instagram photos rather than photos from the court or police raids.

According to case information, Khalifa was arrested in Cairo in April 2025 by the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the Egyptian Ministry of Interior. Initial raids uncovered 200 kg of synthetic hashish, gold, cash, and 5 luxury vehicles, valued at 420 million Egyptian pounds. Investigations revealed that drugs were manufactured and distributed using chemicals in residential laboratories in areas including New Cairo, Nasr City, and Agouza. In July 2025, Sarah Khalifa Hamada and her brother Mohamed Khalifa (who also received the death penalty), along with 26 others, a total of 28 individuals, were referred to the criminal court, and their bank accounts were frozen.

In June 2026, the prosecution sought the death penalty for them, and technical committee reports indicated that seized chemicals, including dibromopentane, were used to produce synthetic cannabinoids (MDMB-en-PINACA). On August 5, 2026, the court referred the defendants to the Grand Mufti, and the final verdict was delivered on September 5. According to the final reports, over 750 kg of drugs and raw materials, firearms including 9mm pistols, ammunition, digital scales, and laboratory equipment were seized.

During court sessions, Sarah Khalifa stated that she had not seen any drugs until she was photographed at the Anti-Narcotics Bureau and knew nothing about the production network. However, the prosecution presented statements from 20 witnesses, phone conversations, and video footage as evidence. The main operators of this network, an Iraqi national named Duraid A. (Duraid Abdul Latif Al-Samarrai) and an Egyptian national named Sameh M., have not yet been arrested.

In addition to this drug case, Sarah Khalifa received verdicts in two other separate criminal cases during the same period. She was sentenced to 3 years in prison for sexually assaulting her driver, and she and others were sentenced to 5 years in prison for kidnapping and assaulting a young man.