The State has been allowed to hold six Iranian nationals for 21 more days in a Sh8.2 billion methamphetamine case as investigations continue.
Detectives from the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) are still investigating the source, ownership and destination of the more than 1,000 kilos of the drug found inside MV Mashallah.
ANU detectives on November 14, 2025, informed the Shanzu Law Courts, where the six were arraigned, that the probe into the shipment was not complete to forward the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The six foreigners are Imran Baloch, Hassan Baloch, Nadeem Jadgai, Jasem Darzaen Nia, Imtiyaz Daryayi and Rahim Baksh.
ANU’s Inspector Shadrack Kemei said that together with other detectives, they need more time to exploit devices found in their possession.
In his affidavit, Kemei said that they suspect that the devices contain vital information that may link the six men to the owners of the vessel or the shipment that could lead them to the drug network behind it.
The court has already issued police with orders to compel them to unlock the phones for examination at Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters.
The officer said that information on their possession pointed to a larger, organised network of trafficking synthetic narcotics through the sea while describing the probe as complex.
When they were presented in court for the first time on October 27 to be charged with trafficking narcotics, a disagreement arose after they declined the services of an interpreter provided by America’s Naval Criminal Investigations Service.
The court ordered that they be given interpretation services, which they got before ordering their detention for 30 days.
The six were arrested on October 25 aboard the stateless vessel, some 350 nautical miles (630 kilometres) off the Kenyan coastline.
The joint operation involved ANU, Kenya Navy, Kenya Coast Guard, Kenya Revenue Authority, Port Police, Kenya Ports Authority and the National Intelligence Service.
On board, the team encountered the six men who allegedly said they were fishermen, but upon further search, the whitish substance was discovered packed in some 769 black plastic bags.
The bags, each weighing 1.3 kilos, were labelled as coffee.
The vessel sailed to the Kilindini harbour, where samples were taken to the government chemist for testing, with the results confirming that the substance was 98 per cent methamphetamine.
The vessel was later taken to the Mtongwe Navy.
