British Couple Each Get 33 Year Sentences For Exporting £700m Worth Of Cocaine To Australia
31 Jan 2024
A British couple have been jailed for 33 years each for exporting £700m worth of cocaine to Australia.
Arti Dhir, 59, and her husband Kaval Raijada, 35, from Hanwell, Ealing reportedly smuggled seven tonnes of the Class A drug between 2019 and 2021.
The NCA’s investigation found the couple were behind a front company that used commercial planes to ship the drugs around the world hidden in metal toolboxes and laundered their profits Breaking Bad style through a car wash.
The pair previously escaped extradition for the murders of their adopted son and his brother in India in an insurance payout before setting up their drug empire.
Dhir and Raijada denied exporting cocaine to Australia and money laundering, but were convicted of 12 counts of exportation and 18 counts of money laundering by a jury following a trial on January 29.
Piers Phillips, NCA Senior Investigating Officer, said: “They kept their illicit profits in cash at their home and in storage units, as well as purchasing property, gold and silver in an attempt to hide their wealth,”
“These defendants may have thought they were removed from the misery caused by the drugs trade but their greed was fuelling it.”