Cassation Court upholds over 3 years prison term for drug dealer

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining 1,842 Captagon pills with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent in Amman in September 2022.

The SSC handed the defendant five years in prison 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 JD3,500 and the prison term to three years and four months in prison to give the defendant a second chance in life.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant intended to sell illegal narcotics in the local market and sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer.

“The AND agent got in touch with the defendant and asked him for a large amount of Captagon pills in return for JD1,600,” court documents said. When the two met, AND agents immediately arrested the suspect, court papers added.

Upon searching the defendant's home, court papers said, "AND personnel found a small quantity of Hashish and 64 additional Captagon pills." 

The defendant denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer who contested the verdict.

The SSC prosecutor “failed to provide solid evidence to implicate my client”, the lawyer argued.

The lawyer also charged that the law-enforcement “officers provided contradictory testimonies against my client”.

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 sentence against the defendant.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi and Mohammad Khashashneh.