The son of a Scottish aristocrat is “incredibly distressed” but innocent of trafficking £2.2m worth of cocaine into Kenya, his family has said.
Jack Marrian, 31, the grandson of the sixth earl of Cawdor, who attended a prestigious Kenyan school with the British cyclist Chris Froome, is accused of trying to import nearly 100kg of the class A drug in shipping containers.
Marrian’s father David, an artist, insisted on Friday that his son was innocent: “I know, and I’m pretty certain police know, he is innocent but this is Kenya and we are terrified of the repercussions.
“But we have good lawyers and we know he is innocent and the Kenyan judiciary has changed. We know the truth will come out. But it’s properly frightening,” he told the Times.
The haul was found by Kenyan police and US Drug Enforcement Agency officials in containers that had arrived from Brazil at the main Kenyan seaport last week.
The cocaine was allegedly shipped around the world in containers 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 Limited, 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).
David Marrian, who lives in Kenya, said his son had “nothing to do” with the cocaine.
“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. The containers are not his,” he said.
“The ship is not his. The fact it is contaminated with cocaine has nothing to do with him. The containers are packed in the port and checked by an independent company approved by Kenyan customs. There is a seal put on the container but it is not a foolproof system.”
He said his son was being looked after in Kileleshwa police station but was “incredibly distressed”.
He added: “He looked pretty freaked out in court but he was OK. He is a cool customer, Jack.”
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. His mother, Emma Clare Campbell of Cawdor, runs an upmarket interior design firm on the outskirts of Nairobi.
On his LinkedIn profile, Marrian describes himself as the head of sugar trading in south-east Africa at ED&F Sugar, a merchant that ships sugar, molasses and coffee around the world. His profile also says he is the managing director of Mshale Commodities, the Kenyan importer that the prosecution alleges was due to receive the shipment containing the cocaine.
A spokeswoman for Mshale Commodities said: “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.
“Mshale operates stringent procedures to protect the integrity of its supply chain. Until these investigations are concluded, we are unable to comment further.”
Growing up in an affluent part of Nairobi, Marrian went to one of Kenya’s foremost international schools at the same time as the three-time Tour de France winner Froome. Crista Cullen, the English hockey player, was also at the Banda school at this time.
It is understood that Marrian then studied at the elite Marlborough college, where the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Eugenie were students, before going on to study economics at the University of Bristol.
In a one-word Facebook status posted on Monday, sent from the Spring Valley area of Nairobi, Marrian wrote “released”. The status has been responded to more than 30 times by friends on the social networking site but he has not updated his account since.
Marrian’s aunt, Elizabeth Campbell, told the Guardian: “He’s innocent. That’s all I can say.” She declined to comment further.
A National Crime Agency spokesman said: “We are aware of the seizure and the subsequent arrest of a UK national, and have assisted our Kenyan and US law enforcement partners. However, this is now a matter for the Kenyan authorities so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
The seizure was a rare one 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.
