Jack Marrian, 31, a nephew of the Earl of Cawdor, is facing life in prison after 99.7kg of the drug was seized from a shipping container full of sugar in Mombasa.

Mr Marrian, a trader with ED&F Man, was importing sugar from Brazil to Uganda and says that he knew nothing about the cocaine. His co-accused, Roy Mwanthi, had been hired to clear the sugar through the port. They deny the charges.

Spanish police told Kenyan officers that the drugs were due to be offloaded in Valencia, but something went wrong. The drugs were left in the container which carried on to Mombasa, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The British government has a copy of the US intelligence report, but Kenyan officials have refused to share it with Mr Marrian’s defence. Andrew Wandabwa, his lawyer, said the state was wilfully “sitting on evidence” that showed Kenyan police arrested someone with no connection to the drugs.

Series of stories Jerome has done on the cocaine haul largely pointing fingers at the State

Series of stories Jerome has done on the cocaine haul largely pointing fingers at the State

The head of Kenya’s anti-narcotics unit said he had letters from US and Spanish authorities which said that the smugglers were using a technique in which they hide drugs in containers without the owners knowing. A magistrate gave the state 15 days to hand over its evidence.

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Marrian lawyers have often accused the state of desperately trying to save a face in the heavily driven political pressure case. Jerome is one of the few journalists who’ve kept a close eye on the dreaded case by many journalists and this might have not gone well by the power circles determined to bury the truth in the case. Some quarters also say he was doing a sensitive story on the death  of Jacob Juma the slain businessman also suspected to have been gunned down by the state in a case that is yet to be determined by the DCI investigations but Kenya Insights can’t independently ascertain this claim doing rounds.

It’s unfortunate that insincere elements in the government are now using state resources to intimidate journalists and in ripple effect clamping down on media freedom taking Kenya steps back in freedom rights.