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CAIRO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's prosecution on Sunday denied the release of a senior judge arrested earlier this month with 68 kilograms of hashish in his car in Cairo, reported the official MENA news agency.
The prosecution reaffirmed the extension of the judge's detention to an extra 15 days pending investigation, noting it is currently investigating the related "false news" circulating in the media.
On Nov. 10, the Justice Ministry accepted the resignation of Judge Tarek Mohamed Zaki, head of the Sharqiya misdemeanor court, whose judicial immunity was lifted following the scandal, revealed by a police dog at a checkpoint in a tunnel between the provinces of Suez and North Sinai northeast of the capital Cairo.
Drug smuggling rates, along with addiction, are high in Egypt, with about 10.4 percent of the population aged from 15 to 65 taking drugs, stated Amr Osman, director of Egypt's Drug Control and Addiction Treatment Fund, during a previous interview with Xinhua.
Hashish, painkillers such as Tramadol and Tamol, heroin and marijuana are the most prevalent drug types in Egypt and police seize on average 200 drug-related cases daily.
