Egypt Sentences Yemeni and Somali Nationals to Death for Qat Trafficking

A criminal court in Giza, Egypt, has referred the case of two defendants, a Yemeni and a Somali national, to the Grand Mufti for a religious opinion on their execution, following the seizure of tons of the narcotic plant known as Qat.

The Egyptian Public Prosecution stated that the defendants, identified as Younes M. (Yemeni) and Abd al-Fattah A. (Somali), were involved in importing the narcotic substance Qat with the intent to traffic it outside legally permitted circumstances.

Authorities in Giza apprehended the defendants in 2025 on a public road. A search of their vehicles uncovered bags containing a plant resembling the narcotic Qat, along with significant sums of money.

The defendants reportedly confessed to possessing a large quantity of the Qat plant at their residence, admitting they had imported the narcotic substances from abroad for distribution and sale within the country.

Investigations revealed that the seized contraband amounted to approximately five tons of the narcotic Qat plant. Chemical analysis confirmed the substances to be green plant parts identified as cathinone, a narcotic listed in the first schedule of drug laws, and cathine, listed in the third schedule of the narcotics law.