A couple of Indian origin has been sentenced to 33 years for involvement in a multi-million-pound drug trafficking operation. The couple, Arti Dhir, 59, and Kavaljitsinh Raijada, 35, from West London’s Ealing, were associated with a network that operated across continents.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) cracked the scheme when the Australian Border Force intercepted over half a tonne of cocaine, valued at over Rs 600 crore, upon its arrival in Sydney in May 2021, The NDTV reported.
The drug-laden cargo ingeniously hidden within metal toolboxes was traced to an ostensibly regular couple who established a front company named Viefly Freight Services to facilitate their drugs smuggling network.
A court observed that the couple’s company had dispatched the narcotics via a commercial flight from the UK. When authorities opened the metal toolboxes, they found 514 kilograms of cocaine. The value of this unlawful cargo in Australia, where drug prices are higher than those in the UK, was approximately 57 million pounds, The NDTV report revealed.
Having worked at a Heathrow flight services company, the couple knew how to hoodwink the system.
“Arti Dhir and Kavaljitsinh Raijada used their insider knowledge of the air freight industry to traffic cocaine worth tens of millions of pounds from the UK to Australia, where they knew they could maximise their revenue,” Piers Phillips, NCA Senior Investigating Officer, was quoted as saying by agencies.
The report added that although Dhir and Raijada denied the charges, a jury at Southwark Crown Court convicted them on 12 counts of exportation and 18 counts of money laundering.
Raijada’s fingerprints on the plastic wrappings of the toolboxes and receipts emerged as the critical evidence.
The agency exposed that the couple had dispatched 37 consignments to Australia since June 2019, with 22 acting as decoys and 15 having cocaine.
But when the couple were apprehended at their Hanwell home on June 21, 2021, the elaborate plan started to fall apart, and large sums of cash and gold-plated silver bars were found.
Officers from the NCA found nearly three million pounds in cash stashed in boxes and suitcases at a West London storage facility.
Financial investigations showed that although the couple claimed to have made small profits, they had paid 800,000 pounds for an Ealing apartment and 62,000 pounds for a Land Rover. Since 2019, their nearly 740,000 pounds in cash deposits into 22 separate bank accounts have sparked concerns about possible extensive money laundering.
Four years ago, India tried to extradite the couple to face double murder charges in Gujarat, but it was denied.
The couple have been charged with organising the murder of Gopal Sejani, a 12-year-old orphan that Dhir adopted in 2015. Reports claimed that Dhir had a devious plan of receiving money from a claim on an insurance policy he purchased for Gopal, worth Rs 1.3 crore.
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