Court upholds 7 years in prison for drug dealer

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an August 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a drug dealer to seven years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Amman in February 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing illegal narcotics at his home in Marka with the intent of selling the drugs in the local market in February, 2023.

The SSC handed the defendant seven years for the offence of possessing illegal in prison and ordered him to pay JD5,000 in fines. 

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant was in possession of a large quantity of illegal narcotics and placed him under surveillance.

 “The AND agents raided his house and found illegal narcotics hidden in various places of the house,” the court documents said.

The law-enforcement agency found 5.5 kilogrammes of hashish, 0.86 grammes of cocaine and 3,800 Captagon pills, according to the court papers. 

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

The defence also charged that the court handed the defendant a high sentence “and my client deserves clemency by the court”.

“My client possessed a small quantity of illicit drugs that was for personal use and he had no intention to sell any illicit 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 sentences against the defendant.

 “It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs to sell it in the local market,” the higher court said.

Therefore, the higher court maintained that the defendant deserves the punishment he received. 

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi, Mohammad Khashashneh and Nayef Samarat.