The Ninth Circuit of the Asyut Criminal Court sentenced three defendants to six years of rigorous imprisonment each after convicting them of forming and running a drug-trafficking gang.[1] Counselor Ahmed Mohamed Halawa presided over the bench with judges Mohamed Ayman Saddah, Mohamed Samir El-Tamawy and Rami Mohamed Samir, and secretaries Khamis Mahmoud and Mohamed El-Arabi.[1] The case began in January 2026, when investigators found that three defendants from Dronka village in Asyut Center had formed a network to sell narcotics.[1]

Inquiries by the Asyut Security Directorate’s Criminal Investigation Department indicated that the defendants used their homes and surroundings in Dronka to store and sell drugs wholesale and retail.[1] After obtaining a Public Prosecution warrant, security forces prepared an operation in the Al-Suwaiqah area of Dronka where two of them were present.[1] Officers arrested the first and second defendants and found six bags of methamphetamine known locally as shabu, four heroin wraps, an electronic scale, a scalpel, 180 Egyptian pounds and a phone on the first.[1] Police seized a bag of methamphetamine, a heroin wrap, a scalpel, 370 Egyptian pounds and a mobile phone from the second defendant.[1] Forces then went to the third defendant’s home in Dronka and arrested him with 21 pieces of hashish, 15 tramadol tablets, iron scissors, 430 Egyptian pounds and a phone.[1]

Asyut forensic laboratories confirmed that the first defendant’s items included 8.75 grams of methamphetamine and 1.45 grams of heroin, with traces of methamphetamine and hashish on his scale.[1] The lab weighed the third defendant’s hashish at 19.30 grams and confirmed 9.40 grams of methamphetamine and 2.96 grams of heroin held by the second defendant, plus tramadol in the tablets.[1] During questioning, the defendants admitted possessing the drugs for trafficking and profit, saying the cash came from their drug proceeds.[1] They also confessed to using the phones to contact customers and users and keeping bladed weapons to protect themselves while dividing and selling drugs.[1] North Asyut Public Prosecution referred the three defendants to the criminal court based on police inquiries, forensic reports and confessions.[1]