Man gets 7-year jail term for drug smuggling attempt

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2020 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to seven years in prison after convicting him of attempting to smuggle illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia in December 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to smuggle 494,000 Captagon pills to Saudi Arabia in a trailer and handed him a 15-year prison term. The SSC also ordered the defendant to pay JD10,000 in fines.

Court papers said the defendant wanted to make quick cash and decided along with other defendants, who did not appeal their verdicts, to smuggle illegal narcotics to Saudi Arabia.

On December 15, the defendant hid the illegal pills in pipes and placed them under the trailer with the help of others, in an attempt to smuggle the drugs to the neighbouring country.

However, the group was arrested by Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents while attempting to cross the border before crossing into Saudi Arabia.

The defendant, through his two lawyers, contested the SSC’s ruling, charging that “he had no knowledge that the truck he was driving was loaded with illegal drugs”.

“The defendant was informed by the other defendants that the shipment he was transporting to Saudi Arabia was Viagra pills and had no idea that it was Captagon pills,” the lawyers argued.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the verdict because it was in accordance with the law.

The higher court ruled that the SSC followed the proper proceedings when sentencing the defendant. 

The Court of Cassation judges comprised Mohammad Ibrahim, Majid Azab, Hayel Amr, Nayef Samarat and Fawzi Nahar.