CAIRO: A court in Egypt on Sunday sentenced eight foreigners and two Egyptians to death on charges of smuggling in over two tonnes of heroin by sea, a judicial source said.

Authorities seized the drugs brought in via the Red Sea, worth around 2.5 billion pounds ($159 million), in 2019.

Seven Pakistanis, two Egyptians and an Iranian were convicted for having stashed the drugs, also including nearly 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine, in a hidden storage room aboard a ship, the source added, without giving details on where the shipment originated.

Capital punishment for civilian convicts in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, is carried out by hanging. The ruling can be appealed within two months.

Human rights groups have routinely slammed Egypt’s “significant spike” in recorded executions, which saw a more than threefold rise to 107 last year, from 32 in 2019.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2021