Son of Scottish aristocrat charged following £2m cocaine bust

Jack Marrian, 30, charged with involvement in trafficking of class A drugs to Kenya from Brazil

Jack Marrian appeared in court in Nairobi on Thursday charged with involvement in drug trafficking (AP/Khalil Senosi)

A Scottish aristocrat’s son has been arrested and charged in relation to one of the biggest seizures of class A drugs in Kenya in recent years.

More than 100kg of trafficked cocaine worth over £2m was seized by Kenyan police and US Drug Enforcement Agency officers when it arrived at a sea port from Brazil last week and police believe Jack Marrian, 30, may have been involved in some capacity.

Mr Marrian, who has denied the charges, is head of east Africa operations at international trading giant ED&F Sugar, as well as being the son of Lady Emma Clare Campbell of Cawdor, whose family own a famous estate in the Highlands of Scotland. He is also a former classmate of cyclist Chris Froome.

The cocaine in question was allegedly transported across the ocean in containers which appeared from the outside to carry sugar, and prosecutors claim the shipment was due to be received by Mshale Commodities, a company at which Mr Marrian serves as managing director.

Police claim both Mr Marrian and Roy Francis Mwanthi, a director of Inland Africa Logistics Limited, had communicated with traffickers processing the cargo at the port shortly before it was seized.

Both men appeared in court yesterday to deny the charges having spent three nights in police custody, but face life sentences in Kenyan jail if they are convicted of drug trafficking.

Prosecutors meanwhile opposed Mr Marrian’s bail application, arguing he was a flight risk, and the court will rule on the matter next week.

Mr Marrian has lived in Kenya for most of his life and attended a prominent international school in Nairobi, counting Tour de France winner Chris Froome as one of his classmates.

He is innocent but this is Kenya and we are terrified of the repercussions

&#13; <p>David Marrian</p>&#13;

In a one-word Facebook status posted on Monday, sent from the Spring Valley area of Nairobi, Mr Marrian simply wrote “Released”. He has not updated his account since.

David Marrian, Jack’s father, said he was convinced his son was innocent and there had been a misunderstanding regarding his arrest.

“The sugar in the containers was being sent to Jack’s company but he has no involvement in either the packing of the ships or the unloading,” he told the Times. “The containers are not his. The ship is not his. The fact it is contaminated with cocaine has nothing to do with him.”

He said although the containers are packed in the port and checked by an independent company approved by Kenyan customs before being sealed, the system is "not foolproof".

He added: “I know, and I’m pretty certain police know, he is innocent but this is Kenya and we are terrified of the repercussions.

“We know the truth will come out. But it’s properly frightening.”

A spokeswoman for Mshale Commodities added: “Mshale is aware of speculation regarding an allegedly compromised shipment consigned to Mshale Commodities.

“We can confirm that Mshale’s managing director, Jack Marrian, is assisting the Kenyan authorities to provide them with whatever information they require.”

Kenya has become a global distribution hub for cocaine traffickers over recent years, the UN has said, and seizures of this magnitude are difficult to come by.

Police in Kenya have been named as the most corrupt institution in the country by the watchdog Transparency International for more than a decade.