Bail opposed for nine in Sh1.3bn drugs case

Nine crew of a ship charged with trafficking narcotic drugs worth Sh1.3 billion should not be given bail, a court was told Thursday.

Prosecutor Peter Kiprop Thursday said the accused were facing serious charges and should not be released on bond.

He said investigations were being conducted in seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, India, Dubai and Kenya.

He added that the men were likely to flee Kenya due to the nature of the offence.

“The gravity of the offence is so serious that if convicted, they can be sentenced to life imprisonment or fined three times the value of the narcotics, which is approximately Sh3.3 billion,” he said.

“The complex nature of the case requires more time for investigations and the accused should stay in custody,” Mr Kiprop told chief magistrate Maxwell Gicheru.

Messers Yousuf Yaqoob, Yakoob Ibrahim, Saleem Muhammed, Bhatti Abdulghafour, Baksh Moula, Prabhakara Nair, Pak Abdolghaffel, Vikas Saleh and Mohammed Saleh are charged with drug trafficking, attempting to destroy evidence and being in the country illegally.

It is alleged that on July 7, 2014, the Mv Amin Darya crew and others not in court, were caught trafficking 377,224 kg of heroin at Mombasa port.

Their lawyer, Mr Cliff Ombeta, opposed the prosecution’s application, saying the reasons were mere allegations and assumptions.

“The only charge the accused face is of drug trafficking and the only reason they keep asking for more time is to make the matter compelling to deny the accused bond,” he said.

He said it would be unfair to deny them bond on the grounds that investigations were incomplete three weeks after they were first brought to court.
Two accused are students

“Once the accused are brought to court, it is an assumption that investigations are complete and that there are no other charges to be read against them. I find the reasons by the prosecutor to deny bond not compelling,” Mr Ombeta said.

He also urged the court to consider the fact that two of the accused were students at Mumbai Maritime College in India and were on industrial attachment on the ship.

He also disputed claims by the prosecution that the matter involved cross-border investigations, saying this had not been mentioned in the affidavit and that no document had been submitted showing that the countries mentioned were involved.

A ruling on the application will be made on August 18.