Drug dealer handed 2-year prison term

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Irbid in August of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics for personal use on August 22.

The court decided to hand the defendant a two-year prison term and ordered him to pay JD1,000 in fines.

The SCC also decided to declare the defendant innocent of illegal narcotics trafficking charges “for lack of evidence”.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant – and two other men who did not appeal their verdicts – was in possession of illegal narcotics and placed him under surveillance.

On the day of the defendant’s capture, the court maintained, AND officers pulled over the defendant’’ vehicle for inspection.

“The AND agents found crystal meth, hashish and other illegal drugs in small quantities,” the court documents said.

The defendant confessed to obtaining the illegal narcotics for his personal use, court papers added.

Crystal meth is the common name for crystal methamphetamine, a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system, according to WebMD,

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

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 sentence against the defendant.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation bench was presided over by Judge Yassin Abdullat and included Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi and Mohammad Khashashneh.