Drug dealer gets 3-year jail term

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

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining three bags of marijuana and a variety of illegal narcotics on August 23 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.

The court also ordered him to pay JD3,000 in fines.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and decided to monitor him because he had a criminal record.

The law enforcement officers arrested the defendant a few days after monitoring him and found a variety of illegal narcotics in his possession, court documents said.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “should reduce the sentence because my client confessed to possessing illegal drugs”.

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.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Saeed Mugheid, Hayel Amr and Fawzi Nahar.