20 tonnes of marijuana seized in South Sinai drug-farm campaign
Egypt's interior ministry said police and the armed forces seized more than 20 tonnes of marijuana and destroyed over 283 acres of drug farms in a campaign of more than ten days across South Sinai. Officers also seized cannabis seeds, hashish and a cannabis rosin press.
Egypt’s interior ministry announced that police had seized more than 20 tonnes of marijuana and destroyed over 283 acres of drug farms in South Sinai province[1]. The General Department of Narcotics Control ran the campaign with the armed forces, targeting drug farms across several areas of the province for more than ten days[1].
What was seized
Officers seized 20 tonnes of dried marijuana along with 20 kg of hashish, 828 kg of cannabis seeds, 243 kg of opium seeds and a cannabis rosin press machine, according to the ministry statement[1]. The 283-acreeradication figure covers cannabis and poppy farms together and is not counted separately here[1].
Context
The ministry’s statement notes Egypt’s high rate of drug use, citing the national addiction fund’s estimate that about 10.4 percent of people aged 15 to 65 take drugs[1]. No arrests were reported in the republished account[1].
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The campaign lasted more than ten days, but the ministry statement as republished gives no start or end dates; 29 January 2020 is the publication date.
The statement's 283-acre destruction figure covers cannabis and poppy farms combined and cannot be separated, so it is not counted in the figures.
No arrests or seizures of suspects were reported in the opened account.
The whole account rests on a single republished agency statement.
Customs officers at Hurghada International Airport stopped a foreign passenger arriving from a European country and found a plastic roll of green pieces and two bottles, one holding a green plant, all suspected to be marijuana. The Hurghada prosecution is investigating the seizure, and customs filed report No. 12 of 2026.
Customs officers at Hurghada International Airport found a black bag holding 55.5 grams of a green herb suspected to be marijuana in the luggage of a passenger arriving from Turkey. They filed customs seizure report No. 9 of 2026 and held the material; no arrest or charge has been reported.
Cairo postal customs stopped a US parcel of six hair- and hand-care containers weighing 6 kg that airport anti-drug officers said was cannabis oil worth about 12 million Egyptian pounds; prosecutors ordered a foreign national held for four days.
Egypt's drug-control police arrested seven people in four operations in Alexandria and Sharqia and seized 64 kg of hashish, the Interior Ministry said. A woman arrested in Zagazig was found with 5 kg of hashish, a pistol, ammunition and a car, and police valued the haul at about 6 million Egyptian pounds.
