Man sentenced to over three years for selling captagon pills

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to over three years in prison after convicting him of selling eight Captagon pills to a law enforcement officer in Amman in 2023.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics with the intent of selling the drugs to an undercover agent on June 11.

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.

However, the court decided to reduce the fine to JD3,500 and the prison term to three years and four months in prison to give the defendant a second chance in life.

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 eight Captagon pills and a small stash of Hashish,” court documents said.

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

Upon searching the defendant, court papers said, AND personnel found an additional three Captagon pills and a small quantity of illegal narcotics on him". 

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that his client “possessed the illegal drugs for his personal use”.

The lawyer also argued that his client should benefit from a reduction in penalty because he is young and does not have a criminal record.

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 with the intent of selling it in the local market,” the higher court said.

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