Man handed 12-year prison term for drug possession 

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to 12 years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Mafraq in August 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing illegal pills and hashish with the intent of selling them locally during 2018 until his arrest in January 2020 and handed him a 15-year prison term.

However, the SSC immediately reduced the sentence to 12 years in prison “because he is young and deserves a second chance in life”, according to court transcripts.

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

Court documents said that the defendant intended to make quick cash by smuggling drugs from Syria to Jordan.

“The defendant succeeded in smuggling large amounts of Captagon pills and Hashish from Syria to Jordan in 2018 and 2019,” court papers said.

However, in early 2020, Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents were informed that the defendant was exporting illegal drugs from Syria to sell in the Jordanian market.

“A task force monitored the defendant’s movement and attempted to stop him to search his vehicle,” court documents said.

The defendant sped off and ended up crashing head on with a police vehicle, the court documents added.

Upon searching the vehicle, the court added, AND operatives found illegal narcotics inside it.

The defence lawyers contested the SSC’s ruling, charging that the SSC prosecution office “did not follow the proper investigation procedures with their client”.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office insisted that the investigation procedures were conducted in accordance with the law and asked the higher court to uphold his verdict.

The higher court ruled that the SSC followed the right procedures in the issuance of the sentence against the defendant.

“The investigation procedures were conducted in accordance with the law and the defendant confessed willingly to possessing and selling illegal drugs in the local market,” the higher court ruled.

Therefore, the higher court maintained the defendant had received the appropriate punishment.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding over the case were Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Mohammad Khashashneh, Nayef Samarat and Hayel Amr.