Man sentenced to over 3 years for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July 2023 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to over three years in prison after convicting him of stashing illegal drugs at his home in Mafraq in March 2023.

The court declared the defendant guilty of stashing a variety of illegal drugs at his home in Manshiet Sulta on March 27.

The SSC initially handed the defendant a five-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics and ordered him to pay JD5,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the fine to JD3,000 and the prison term to three years and four months in prison to give the defendant a second chance in life.

Court documents said that the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt that the defendant, who was a known drug dealer, was in possession of illegal narcotics.

The law-enforcement agency raided the defendant’s home and found a variety of illegal drugs, court papers said.

The illegal drugs included Hashish, Captagon pills and crystal meth, the court added.

Upon summoning the defendant, he “confessed to possessing the illegal narcotics to sell in the local market,” the court stated. 

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who claimed “that there were legal irregularities in the investigation process”.

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 Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi, Hammad Ghzawi and Mohammad Khashashneh.