Drug dealer sentenced to over three years in prison

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld an August 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over three years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Amman February of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining a variety of illegal narcotics with the intent to sell the drugs to an undercover agent in the Sahab area on 28 February. 

The SSC initially sentenced the defendant to five years in prison for possession of illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD5,000 in fines.

The court later decided to reduce the fine to JD3,000 and the prison term to three years and four months.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learned the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and sent an agent to pose as a buyer.

“The AND agent got in touch with the defendant and asked him for a stash of a variety of illegal drugs in return for JD1,180,” court documents said.

When the two met, AND agents immediately arrested the suspect, court papers added.

Upon searching the defendant’s vehicle, court papers said, “AND personnel found 385 grammes of Hashish and 150 Captagon pills”. 

Law enforcement officers also found a cell phone on him that was used to call the undercover AND officer, according to court documents.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate his client”.

“My client was subjected to torture and duress in order to confess that he was a dealer,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer claimed that his client possessed “a small amount of drugs for personal use and not for selling in the local market”. court papers stated.

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 a variety of illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Majid Azab, Fawzi Nahar, Mohammad Shreieri and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.