Drug dealer sentenced to over 3 years in jail

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over three years in prison after convicting him of selling illegal narcotics to an undercover agent in Amman in January 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining crystal meth, an illegal narcotic, with the intent of selling the drug to an undercover agent in the Muqablein area on January 7, 2022.  The defendant was arrested six weeks after the incident.

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

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

Court documents said that the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learned 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 crystal meth in return for JD20,” the court documents said.

When the two met, AND agents immediately arrested the suspect, the 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, a website for health information.

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 comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi and Mohammad Khashashneh.