A Mombasa Court on Friday sentenced seven foreign sailors to life imprisonment after they were found guilty of trafficking heroin worth Ksh.1.3 billion into Mombasa via the Indian Ocean.

The six Pakistanis and one Iranian are; Yousuf Yakoob, Yakoob Ibrahim, Saleem Muhammad, Bhatti Abdul Ghafour, Baksh Moula, Pak Abdolghaffer and Muhammed Saleh.

The accused, who have likewise been ordered to pay Ksh.3.9 billion in fines, have been given 14 days to appeal the verdict issued by Mombasa chief magistrate Martha Mutuku.

The accused, who were crew members of the Amin Darya ship, also known as Al Noor, were arrested aboard the vessel in 2014, while the ship was at sea.

They claimed to have been ferrying white cement to Zanzibar.  

A police search would later reveal that the ship was ferrying 377 kilograms of granular heroin, 33,200 litres of liquid heroin and 2,400 litres of diesel mixed with heroin.

The ship was later blown up 33 kilometers away from the Mombasa port in an operation overseen by former President Uhuru Kenyatta who then reiterated that Kenya would not condone the trafficking of drugs via its borders.

During the trial, the accused persons claimed that Kenyan authorities meddled with investigations by destroying the ship before their case was concluded but magistrate Mutuku noted that the court was content with the evidence recovered from the vessel before it was sunk.

“This was supported by the accused who said that they saw police office retrieve some substance, I see no reason why the drugs would be planted by security agencies,” said Mutuku in her ruling.