Cassation Court upholds 10 years' sentence for drug dealer

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of possessing a large quantity of illegal narcotics in February 2023.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing illegal narcotics with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on February 6.

The SSC handed the defendant a 15-year prison term for the charges and ordered him to pay JD10,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 10 years in prison while maintaining the JD10,000 “to give the defendant a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) received a tip that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer.

“The AND agent got in touch with the defendant and asked him for five kilogrammes of Hashish and 3,000 Tramadol pills in return for JD13,000,” court documents said.

When the two met, AND agents immediately arrested the suspect, court papers added. 

Upon searching the defendant, court papers said, AND personnel found a variety of illegal narcotics in addition to the drugs he possessed to sell to the undercover law enforcement officer.

Officers determined that the defendant possessed over six kilogrammes of Hashish, 3,000 tramadol pills and over 250 Captagon pills, the court transcripts added.

Officers also found two electronic scales, a machine gun and a pistol (Glock) with the defendant, the court maintained.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that his client should get a reduction in penalty “because he was only transporting a package and had no idea it contained illegal narcotics”.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentence and the fine imposed on the defendant.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper procedures in issuing the sentences against the defendant.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Mohammad Khashashneh and Qassem Dughmi.