Six Iranian nationals who were arrested in the Indian Ocean with a consignment of methamphetamine worth Ksh8.2 billion have pleaded guilty.
The Iranian nationals made the admission after they were arraigned at the Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa on Monday, January 12.
“The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has secured guilty pleas from six Iranian nationals in a major high-seas narcotics case involving over a tonne of methamphetamine valued at KSh 8.2 billion, reaffirming Kenya’s hardline stance against international drug trafficking syndicates.
“The six, Jaseem Darzadeh Nia, Nadeem Jadgal, Hassan Baloch, Raheem Baksh, Imran Baloch, and Imtiyaz Daryay, pleaded guilty to trafficking 1,036 kilograms of methamphetamine before Chief Magistrate Anthony Mwicigi at the Shanzu Law Courts,” the ODPP said in a statement.
The accused were arrested on October 26, 2025, on the high seas at coordinates approximately 350 nautical miles east of the Port of Mombasa.
The drugs were concealed aboard a stateless vessel named Mashaallah, a common strategy used by transnational criminal networks to evade detection and jurisdiction.
The vessel had been on the radar of the international community for suspected involvement in drug trafficking operations before Kenyan authorities successfully seized it.
The court directed that the six suspects be remanded at Shimo La Tewa GK Prison until Friday, January 30, when the facts of the case are expected to be read.
The order followed a request by the prosecution for two weeks to organize and present the facts. Prosecutors also asked that the proceedings be held on January 30, 2026, at the Kenya Navy base in Mtongwe, where the seized vessel and bulky drug exhibits are being held.
