Man gets 10-year jail term for drug trafficking

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of drug trafficking in September 2018. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of buying and storing 1,600 bags filled with Captagon pills in his house and handed him a 15-year prison term.

However, the SSC decided to reduce the sentence to 10 years in prison to “give the defendant a second chance in life”.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay JD10,000 in fines.

Court papers said that the defendant was in touch with two drug dealers “who would provide him with smuggled Captagon pills from Syria to be transported to Saudi Arabia”.  

“The defendant transported the 1,600 bags that were filled with an undisclosed amount of Captagon pills in return for JD3,000,” court papers said.

However, the defendant was arrested by Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents in November 2018 after receiving a tip-off that he had illegal narcotics in his possession.

The defendant “willingly confessed to buying the illegal narcotics and hiding the pills in his house to sell them at a later stage to a Saudi dealer”, court documents said.

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 to confess to a crime that he did not commit,” the court papers said.

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 willingly confessed to possessing and storing the illegal drugs in his home,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Yassin Abdullat, Saeed Mugheid and Bassem Mubeidin.