Man sentenced to 2 years for narcotics possession in Aqaba

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Aqaba in March 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining hashish, an illegal narcotic, with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on March 29.

The SSC handed the defendant two years in prison for the offence and ordered him to pay JD2,000 in fines.

Court documents said that the defendant, along with three other men, who did not appeal their verdicts, were on a boat in Aqaba that had come from Egypt.

The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learned that the defendants were in possession of illegal narcotics and obstructed their boat from leaving.

Upon searching the boat, the court maintained, AND agents found five boxes of marijuana and hashish.

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 possessed the quantity for personal consumption, and had no intention to sell the drugs in the local market,” the lawyers argued.

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.