Drug dealer sentenced to over three years in prison

AMMAN — A Jordanian was sentenced to over three years in prison by the State Security Court (SSC) for selling Captagon pills to an undercover agent in return for JD5 in Amman in September 2021.

The case was handled by the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND), which learned that the defendant was selling illegal narcotics in the local market.

The law-enforcement agency sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer on September 22, according to documents from a recent Court of Cassation ruling.

When the two met, AND agents immediately arrested the suspect and found four Captagon pills and a small amount of hashish on his person, the court papers added.

The law enforcement officers also found a cell phone on him, and discovered various messages related to local drug sales, according to the court documents.

The SSC August ruling to imprison the defendant for five years was recently upheld by the Court of Cassation.

However, the higher court amended the sentence to three years and four months in prison to “give the defendant a second chance in life”. 

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 judges presiding were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Majid Azab, Mohammad Sharieri, Fawzi Nahar and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.