10 police personnel imprisoned for working with drug dealers

CAIRO – 14 April 2018: Ten police personnel were imprisoned for four days per investigations on Friday, April 13 for leaking classified information about police plans and strategies surrounding twelve drug dealers in return of financial bribes.

Cairo’s prosecution decided to imprison the ten police personnel until finishing the investigations. According to the official statement issued by Egypt’s Interior Ministry, the ten police personnel formed a gang using their positions inside the ministry. They used to contact drug dealers regularly to inform them of any plans that may threaten their illegal work.

On February 2017, nine police personnel were accused of cooperating with drug dealers to ease their illegal work and avoid any troubles with the Interior Ministry. The investigations also proved that some media personnel have close relations with dealers.

According to the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research (Baseera), the volume of drugs traded in Egypt reached LE 400 billion ($22.7 billion) in 2015, which equals about 51 percent of the country’s budget for fiscal year 2014/2015.



However, the Interior Ministry has reported more than once that excessive efforts are being made to control the illegal trade.