Zambia plane.. A picture published by local media
Dubai – Al Arabiya.net
Posted on: September 01, 2023: 04:41 PM GST Last updated: September 01, 2023: 06:27 PM GST
In the developments of the Zambia plane case that occupied the Egyptians during the last period, a local court released today, Friday, five Egyptians and one Zambian citizen, after the prosecutors dropped the accusations of espionage against them, three weeks after they arrived on a private plane loaded with weapons, bullets, money and fake gold. .
While the Drug Enforcement Agency indicated that two Egyptians would be re-arrested, due to less serious charges that it did not specify, so that they would be released on bail.
A judge said five other Zambian nationals who have not been released will stand trial in the Supreme Court, accused of entering a restricted area of the airport.
Lead and gold bars
About 3 weeks ago, the authorities in Zambia arrested the five Egyptians, in addition to six local citizens, accusing them of espionage for entering a restricted area at Lusaka Airport, after they seized weapons, bullets, liquid money and fake gold on board a plane they were traveling in.
Then, after a period of investigations, a district court in the capital, Lusaka, charged the 11 men in this case, which attracted public attention in both Egypt and Zambia.
However, Public Prosecutor Gracilia Mulenga informed the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions had dropped the charges, without stating the reasons on which he relied.
The initial indictment did not mention the aircraft or the seizures, but the defendants’ lawyer said in a statement that they were on a plane that was inspected by Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Administration on August 13 at Lusaka’s main airport.
$5.7 million
While this drug administration revealed that it had found about $5.7 million on the plane coming from Cairo, five pistols, 126 bullets, and 602 pieces of suspected gold weighing about 127 kg.
However, Zambian Mines Minister Paul Kapusui later clarified that laboratory tests of the seized metal ingots showed that despite their shiny appearance, they did not contain gold, but rather consisted primarily of copper and zinc.
This fueled speculation in the Zambia media that some of the suspects may have cheated gold buyers with counterfeit bars.
While an informed Egyptian source explained that the plane was private, and it transited inside Cairo Airport, and was subjected to inspection and to ensure that it fulfilled all safety and security rules that are applied at the highest levels within all Egyptian airports and ports.
However, two Egyptian security guards made it clear that the plane was already searched before leaving Cairo, but one of the detained Egyptians managed to board it with bags that were not subject to inspection, which is now being investigated, according to Reuters.
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2023-09-01 14:27:28
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