Two men jailed for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December 2019 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing two men to prison terms ranging from seven to 15 years in prison after convicting them of possessing illegal narcotics in Mafraq in October 2018.

The court declared the defendants guilty of buying and storing 250,000 Captagon pills with the intent of transporting the illegal narcotics to Saudi Arabia.

The two defendants were arrested on October 13.

The court also ordered both defendants to pay fines ranging from JD7,000 to JD15,000.

Court documents said the two defendants decided to make quick cash by selling and dealing with illegal narcotics.

“The defendant bought the narcotics and stashed it in a spare tyre in one of their vehicles,” court papers said.

However, the defendants were arrested by Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) after receiving a tip-off that they had illegal narcotics in their possession.

Upon searching the vehicle, court papers said, the AND personnel found "Captagon pills hidden in the vehicle". 

The defendants confessed willingly to “buying the illegal narcotics with the intent of driving the vehicle to Saudi Arabia”, court documents said.

The defendants contested the SSC’s ruling through their lawyers, who argued that the SSC prosecution “did not provide solid evidence to implicate their clients”.

“Our clients were subjected to torture and duress to confess to a crime they did not commit,” the court papers said.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentences and the fines imposed on the defendants.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper procedures in issuing the sentences against the defendants.

“It was clear to the court that the defendants confessed willingly to possessing and storing the illegal drugs with the intent of selling it in a neighbouring country,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Yassin Abdullat, Saeed Mugheid and Bassem Mubeidin.