Drug dealer handed over 3 years in jail

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an August 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 April.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining hashish and Captagon pills with the intent of selling the illegal narcotics in the local market on April 10.

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 to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and sent one of its officers to pose as a buyer.

“The AND agent offered the defendant JD60 in return for the illegal narcotics,” the court documents said.

When the two met in an eastern Amman neighbourhood, the court maintained, the defendant was immediately arrested by law-enforcement officers, the court documents stated.

Upon searching the defendant, the court maintained, AND agents found a small stash of hashish and 49 Captagon pills with the defendant.

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 when he was arrested and in front of the SSC prosecutor,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Nayef Samarat, Mohamad Khashashneh, Qassem Dughmi and Hammad Ghzawi.