The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) closed its case against six Iranian nationals charged with trafficking more than one tonne of methamphetamine valued at Sh8.2 billion.
Prosecution concluded its case before Shanzu Chief Magistrate’s Court after presenting the testimony of 12 witnesses, culminating in evidence from the investigating officer, Inspector Shadrack Kemei, who outlined the extensive investigations that led to the interception of the illicit consignment on the high seas and the arrest of the accused persons.
Inspector Kemei testified that the Anti-Narcotics Unit received intelligence on 19th October 2025, indicating that the Kenya Navy had launched an operation to intercept a suspicious vessel believed to be transporting narcotic drugs.
The following day, the Navy confirmed the interception of the vessel, identified as a “dark vessel” for allegedly operating without an Automatic Identification System (AIS), before escorting it to Kenyan waters.
The court heard that on 24th October 2025, investigators obtained search warrants from the Mombasa Law Courts authorising detectives to board, search, seize and detain the vessel.
The investigating officer, accompanied by officers from the Kenya Navy and the Kenya Coast Guard Service, subsequently boarded the vessel, Mashaallah, where the warrant was served on the captain, Jaseem Darzadeh Nia.
During preliminary searches, detectives recovered two packets containing a white crystalline substance.
A field analysis confirmed the substance to be methamphetamine with an estimated purity of approximately 98 per cent, prompting a comprehensive search after the vessel docked at the Kenya Navy’s Mtongwe Jetty.
The subsequent operation uncovered 769 packets of methamphetamine concealed within six of the vessel’s seven compartments. The narcotics and the vessel were seized, leading to the arrest of the six crew members identified as Jaseem Darzadeh Nia, Nadeem Jadgal, Hassan Baloch, Raheem Baksh, Imran Baloch and Imtiyaz Daryay.
Further investigations saw detectives recover five mobile phones and four SIM cards, which were subjected to forensic analysis at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) Cyber Forensics Laboratory.
A government-supervised weighing exercise established that the recovered narcotics weighed 1,036.044 kilograms and had a street value of Sh8,288,352,000.
The prosecution further adduced evidence that the accused informed investigators the consignment had been loaded at Pozm Port in Iran and was destined for Mauritius. Additional evidence presented in court established that the Kenya Maritime Authority confirmed the vessel had no registration documents and was therefore stateless, while analysis by the Government Chemist conclusively identified the recovered substance as methamphetamine.
The six accused are charged with trafficking narcotic drugs contrary to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act. The prosecution alleges that they committed the offence between October 17 and 20, 2025, on the high seas at Latitude 04°46.79’S and Longitude 045°27.42’E, approximately 350 nautical miles east of the Port of Mombasa.
Having called 12 witnesses, the DPP formally closed its case, paving the way for the court to determine whether the accused persons have a case to answer.
The prosecution is led by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joseph Kimanthi, Principal Prosecution Counsel Alex Ndiema and Prosecution Counsel Henrietta Mburu.
Shanzu Chief Magistrate Anthony Mwicigi directed both the prosecution and defence to file written submissions within 14 days.
The matter will be mentioned on July 13 2026, to confirm compliance and to set a date for the ruling on whether the accused persons will be placed on their defence.
