Presenter maintains her innocence
Khalifa is known for presenting Mission Impossible, a television programme covering security and crime. She also owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and an events production company and has more than two million Instagram followers.
The programme aired on the private Al-Mehwar television channel.
During the proceedings, Khalifa maintained that she had never smoked a cigarette and had no need for money from drugs. Egyptian media reported that she wept in court and appealed for mercy, saying her parents had brought her up well and insisting that she had no reason to become involved in the trade.
Death sentence remains subject to appeal
Before delivering the death sentences, the court sought a religious opinion from Egypt’s Grand Mufti, as required by Egyptian law in capital cases. The opinion is advisory and does not bind the court.
Khalifa and the other convicted defendants retain the right to challenge the verdict before the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest court for criminal cases.
In separate proceedings that day, Al Jazeera reported a three-year sentence against Khalifa for assaulting and filming her driver.
Egypt retains the death penalty for certain serious offences, including drug trafficking, terrorism and premeditated murder.