Six Iranians in Ksh.8.2B narcotics case plead guilty to drug trafficking charges

The six, Jasem Darzaen Nia, Nadeem Jadgai, Imran Baloch, Hassan Baloch, Rahim Baksh and Imtiyaz Daryayi, were intercepted in the Indian Ocean on October 25, 2025 while ferrying 1,036 kilograms of methamphetamine.

In a statement on Monday, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said that the suspects pleaded guilty to trafficking the methamphetamine before Chief Magistrate Anthony Mwicigi at the Shanzu Law Courts.

"The charges were preferred under Section 4(a)(ii) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 1994, as amended in 2022, which the prosecution said has significantly strengthened Kenya’s legal framework against large-scale drug trafficking," ODPP noted in a statement.

The prosecution told the court that the narcotics were concealed aboard a stateless vessel named Mashaallah, a strategy believed to be used by transnational criminal networks to evade detection and jurisdiction.

DPP’s team has applied for two weeks to organize and present the facts, requesting the hearing be held on January 30 2026, at the Kenya Navy base in Mtongwe, where the seized vessel and bulky drug exhibits are being held.

Meanwhile, the court has requested the accused to be held at Shimo La Tewa prison pending the hearing.