Man jailed for over 3 years after selling drugs to undercover police

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over three years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics last May.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining Captagon pills and hashish, with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on May 22.

The SSC handed the defendant five years in prison for the offence, 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 to “give the defendant a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learned that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics, and sent one of its officers to pose as a buyer.

“The AND officer got in touch with the defendant and asked him for a small stash of illegal drugs in exchange for JD5,” the court documents said.

When the two met, AND personnel immediately arrested the suspect, the court papers added.

Upon searching the defendant, AND officers found an additional 250 Captagon pills, the court papers said.

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

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentence and fine imposed on the defendant.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper sentencing procedures.

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

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