The family of a Scottish aristocrat have said they are “baffled” by his arrest on suspicion of trafficking nearly 100kg of cocaine into Kenya, adding that his innocence is “palpable and obvious”.
Jack Marrian, 31, the grandson of the sixth Earl Cawdor, is accused of trying to import £2.2m worth of the drug in shipping containers.
The sugar trader, who attended a prestigious Kenyan school with the British cyclist Chris Froome, is to find out on Monday whether he will be released on bail when he appears in court in Nairobi.
His mother told the Guardian his arrest after the massive haul was discovered last week had stunned the family and left them “incredibly distressed”.
Lady Emma Campbell said: “[He] cannot possibly have had anything to do with the drugs. We are all hoping the legal system will find it fair to give Jack bail, so he can continue to assist the Kenyan police with their enquiries.
“He has already cooperated with the police fully, so much so, the police saw fit to allow him out of custody for two days to be able to get them all the documents pertaining to the case they needed. He personally took them to the anti-narcotics division of CID at the time appointed.
“We are baffled why they chose to re-arrest him and throw the trafficking charge at him, as his innocence is palpable and obvious.
“We understand the Kenyan police must do due diligence in their research but we are expecting that they will see that Jack cannot possibly have had anything to do with the drugs discovered in the container which was also carrying his company shipment of sugar.”
Campbell described some media coverage of her son’s arrest as “irresponsible and irrelevant”, adding: “We are very concerned for Jack’s wellbeing and fair treatment. So far he has been treated well in custody, for which we are grateful. We have great confidence in Jack’s lawyers Mr Sheetal Kapila and Mr Andrew Wandabwa and that Jack will soon be back with us.”
The 100kg cocaine haul was found by Kenyan police and US Drug Enforcement Agency officials in containers that had arrived from Brazil at the main Kenyan seaport at Mombasa last week.
The containers were labelled as carrying sugar destined for Uganda.
The prosecution says documents found on the ship used to transport the cargo named Marrian as a director of Mshale Uganda Ltd, the firm that was to receive the containers.
The maximum penalty for drug trafficking in Kenya is a life sentence and a fine of more than $10,000 (£7,600).
Marrian, whose full name is Jack Alexander Wolf Marrian, was born into the famous line of Scottish nobility known as the Clan Campbell of Cawdor.
He is the managing director of Mshale Commodities, the Kenyan importer that police allege was due to receive the shipment containing the cocaine.
Large drug seizures are rare in Kenya, which has become a cocaine distribution hub in recent years, according to the UN and the US. Traffickers from South America are said to take advantage of Nairobi’s extensive air links to Europe and Asia.
