Cassation Court upholds over 6-year sentence for drug dealer

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

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on January 2.

The SSC handed the defendant a six-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD6,000 in fines.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant and other defendants who did not appeal their verdicts possessed a large quantity of illegal drugs.

The law enforcement agency tasked one of its officers to contact the group and pose as a buyer, the court said.

“The AND agent got in touch with the defendant and asked him for two kilogrammes of Hashish and 4,000 Captagon pills in return for JD5,200,” court documents said.

When the two met, the AND agent and the defendants were in the process of conducting the exchange, but additional law enforcement officers showed up, court papers added.

The defendants jumped to their vehicle and sped off but were arrested following a brief car chase, the court added.

Upon searching the defendant, court papers said, AND personnel found an additional quantity of illegal drugs and a mobile chip that they used in the illicit drug exchange. 

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 defendant also claimed that he was subjected to coercion during interrogation.

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 Court of Cassation judges were Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi and Mohammad Khashashneh.