An Indian-origin couple in the UK has been sentenced to 33 years in prison after being convicted of exporting more than half a tonne of cocaine to Australia worth $888 million (£700m), according to a DailyMail report. The couple’s illegal operation spanned between 2019-2021 was exposed by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
The judge while announcing the verdict said: “Drugs are a menace to society. People commit crimes under the influence of drugs. They bring misery and health problems to their users.”
Arti Dhir, 59, and Kavaljitsinh Raijada, 35, operated a front company, Viefly Freight Services that was used to dispatch narcotics via commercial flight from Britain. Since the company’s incorporation in June 2015, both had served its directors at different points.
The jury convicted the couple on 12 counts of exportation and 18 counts of money laundering with the prosecutor comparing their crime to the plots of American TV crime dramas such as Breaking Bad and Ozark.
“It’s like something out of Breaking Bad or Ozark. It was not the 25-year age gap that was different – it was the fact that they operated in the world of international organised crime,” Prosecutor Hugh French told the court.
According to Sky News, the lid on their criminal enterprise was blown when Australian authorities intercepted the drugs and alerted the NCA. Upon checking the six metal toolboxes, they discovered a staggering 514 kilogrammes of cocaine.
The agencies traced the consignment back to the pair. Afterwards, Raijada’s fingerprints matched with those discovered on the plastic wrappings of the metal toolboxes, Paired with the fingerprints, the receipts for the purchase of the toolboxes became the crucial pieces of evidence tying the couple to the crime.
The guilty couple had previous experience in the airline and freight industry, having worked at Heathrow Airport. It allowed them to carry out their criminal enterprise effectively.
Apart from the drug smuggling, the couple is also wanted in India over the murders of adopted son and his brother-in-law in the western state of Gujarat. They managed to avoid extradition by taking the matter to a UK court and arguing that life sentence by the Indian courts would have violated their human rights.
(With inputs from agencies)
