A Shanzu court has ruled that six Iranian nationals have a case to answer in one of the largest drug trafficking prosecutions Kenya has ever seen — over 1,036 kilograms of methamphetamine valued at Sh8.2 billion, seized from a vessel on the high seas. This isn’t a rumour. This isn’t a raid on a street corner. This is industrial-scale narcotics trafficking, and it allegedly passed through international waters linked to this country’s jurisdiction.
Shanzu Chief Magistrate Anthony Mwicigi made the ruling after the prosecution closed its case, having called 12 witnesses. The standard here is prima facie — enough credible evidence that the accused must now respond or risk a conviction by default of silence. The six men named are Jaseem Darzadeh Nia, Nadeem Jadgal, Hassan Baloch, Raheem Baksh, Imran Baloch and Imtiyaz Daryay.
Let’s be clear about what this ruling is not. It is not a conviction. The six men retain the right to mount a defence, and the court will hear them out. But the threshold for reaching this stage is real — the magistrate looked at the evidence and said, in legal terms: you have questions to answer.
Kenya sits at a strategic crossroads for global drug trafficking routes. Every tonne of meth that moves through our waters — or gets laundered through our ports — doesn’t just enrich foreign criminal networks. It funds corruption, corrodes institutions, and eventually floods our streets. The Mashaallah case is a test of whether Kenya’s justice system can hold the line when the stakes are measured in billions and the accused are well-resourced foreign nationals. Watch this space.
