Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for drug trafficking

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of drug trafficking in September of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on September 10.

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.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics 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 small stash of crystal meth in return for JD160,” the court documents said.

When the two met, AND agents immediately arrested the suspect when he handed them crystal meth wrapped in cellophane, the court papers added.

The AND officers also found 20 Captagon pills on the defendant, court papers maintained.

Crystal meth is the common name for crystal methamphetamine, a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system, according to WebMD, a website for health information.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate his client”.

The lawyer also argued that “when undercover agents arrested my client, they did not find any cash in him”.

Therefore, the lawyer maintained, "the SSC court was at fault when it ruled that my client is guilty of the illicit drug dealing charge".

The lawyer also argued that the defendant did not have a previous criminal record and should benefit from a reduction in penalty.

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.

Therefore, the higher court continued, the defendant deserves the punishment he received.

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