Prosecutors ordered the detention of an Egyptian judge on Thursday after he was found in possession of 68 kilograms of hashish (cannabis extract), Al-Ahram daily reported on Friday.

Security forces stopped the unnamed male judge in his car at the Ahmed Hamdy tunnel which connects the eastern and the western banks of the Suez Canal and discovered the drugs, which have a value of around EGP 1.5 million (approx. $92,410) according to Al-Ahram.

The judge's driver and a European woman travelling with them were also arrested.

Judicial sources told Al-Ahram that Justice Minister Hossam Abdel-Rahim accepted the resignation of the judge following the incident.

Hash has been illegal in Egypt since it signed the Geneva International Convention on Narcotic Control in 1925.