Drug dealer sentenced to 15 years in jail for smuggling attempt to Saudi Arabia

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to 15 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to smuggle illicit drugs  to Saudi Arabia in September 2015.

The court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to smuggle over 500, 000 Captagon pills to Saudi Arabia with a trailer and handed him a 15 year prison term. The SCC 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 suspects, who did not appeal their verdicts, to smuggle illegal narcotics to Saudi Arabia.

On September 15, the defendant hid the illegal pills in a secret compartment of the trailer with the help of others, in an attempt to smuggle the drugs to the neighbouring country.

However, the group was arrested after the driver of the trailer decided to inform the authorities about the plan, court papers said, noting that the defendant had contested the SSC’s ruling charging that “it did not follow the proper procedures and depended on unreliable witnesses”.

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

The Court of Cassation judges comprised Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Bassem Mubeidin, and Hamad Ghzawi.