Drug dealer handed over  3 years in jail

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over three years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Amman in December 2021.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal Captagon pills, a type of illegal narcotics, with the intent to sell the drugs to an undercover agent on December 3.

The SSC handed the defendant a five-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD5,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the prison term to three years and four months, and lowered the fine to JD3,500 to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said that the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) had learned 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 a small stash of illegal drugs in return for JD50,” the court documents said.

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

Upon searching the defendant, the court papers said, “AND personnel found 39 Captagon pills on him”. 

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

The defence also charged that his client was subjected to “torture and duress in order to confess that he is a drug dealer”.

“My client possessed a small amount of Captagon pills, which were for personal use, and was not intending to sell any illicit drugs in the local market,” the lawyers 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 without being subjected to any form of duress,” the higher court said.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Ibrahim Abu Shamma, Majid Azab and Hayel Amr.