Man sentenced to 3 years for possessing over 1,500 Captagon pills

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of possessing over 1,500 Captagon pills.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics along with another man while in his vehicle in Zarqa in August 2021.

The SSC handed the defendant a three-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD1,000 in fines.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and placed him under surveillance for a while.

When the defendant was arrested, officers found 1,960 Captagon pills hidden in the air filter of his vehicle, the court said.

AND officers also found a cell phone with the defendant that contained chats with his “clients who wanted to buy the illegal pills,” the court added.

The defendant confessed to obtaining the Captagon pills in Mafraq to sell in the local market, the court stated. 

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that his client should benefit from a reduction in penalty “because the pills in his possession were for personal use”.

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 and deserves the punishment for this offence,” the higher court said.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Majid Azab, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi and Hammad Ghzawi.