Cairo police kill two suspected drug-dealers in exchange of fire near Badr City

Egypt's interior ministry said that police on Monday destroyed an "extremely dangerous criminal and drug-dealing den" off the regional ring road near Badr City, killing two “dangerous elements” during the incident.   A ministry statement said that security investigations had revealed that the presence of criminal elements in the hilly area near Badr City on the eastern outskirts of the capital, who were dealing in heroin and using firearms to protect their criminal activity.   Suspects shot at police when they arrived, leading to an exchange of fire, the statement added.   The suspects had been involved in several attacks on civilians, including the killing of a citizen in late 2016, the ministry said.   A number of firearms were confiscated, as well as 3 kilograms of heroin and EGP 62,000 in cash.   Dealing in recreational drugs such as heroin and cocaine can be punished by the death penalty, according to the Egyptian penal code.   The total value of the illegal drug trade in Egypt reached $45 billion (EGP 751 billion) in 2016, according to the Baseera Center for Public Opinion Research.   According to the state's Addiction Treatment and Abuse Fund, Egypt registered a 2.4 percent drug addiction rate, and 10 percent abuse rate in the general population for 2016. Source: Ahram online