Nearly 50 people with firearms and bladed weapons stormed the anti-narcotics police office in Sharqiya, north of Cairo, and freed a suspected drug dealer on Sunday.
A security official who requested anonymity said that the attackers, who were relatives and friends of the suspect, told the police chief that they would set the office ablaze if he tried to stop them.
The suspect was arrested on Sunday in the city of Faqous and had five kilograms of marijuana in his possession when arrested, the same source said.
He said the suspect had a criminal record.
Sharqiya security authorities are intensifying their search for the fugitive and his relatives, the source said.
Attacks on police departments have been on the rise since the pro-democracy protests that forced Hosni Mubarak to resign in February.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
