Drug dealer gets 30-month jail term

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to 30 months in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Zarqa in January of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining 425 grammes of hashish and around 1,000 Captagon pills on February 10 with the intent of selling the drugs in the local market.

The SSC handed the defendant a three-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD2,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 30 months in prison and the fine to 1,000 to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the police pulled over the suspect and found illegal narcotics in his possession on January 20.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate his client on the charge of drug trafficking”.

“My client possessed the illegal narcotics for his own use and had no intention of selling it in the local market,” the lawyer argued.

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.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs with the intent of selling it in the local market and for personal use,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Hayel Amr, Majid Azab, Fawzi Nahar and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.