The National Crime Agency (NCA) identified Arti Dhir and Kavaljitsinh Raijada, from Hanwell, Ealingham.
London:
A British Indian-origin couple whose extradition to India was sought for allegedly murdering their adopted son in Gujarat has been jailed for 33 years for exporting more than half a ton of cocaine to Australia. .
Arti Dhir, 59, and Kavaljitsinh Raijada, 35, from Hanwell, Ealing, were discovered by the National Crime Agency (NCA) after they intercepted cocaine worth £57 million in May 2021. issued a statement on Monday.
Investigations revealed the couple were behind a front company that shipped drugs via airplanes in metal tool boxes.
The judge awarded certificates of commendation to three NCA officials involved in the case.
Deal and Lejada deny exporting cocaine to Australia and laundering money. A jury found them guilty of 12 export offenses and 18 money laundering offences, following a trial at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
They were sentenced in the same court on Tuesday.
The drugs exported by the two men were shipped from the UK on commercial flights and contained six metal tool boxes, which were opened and found to contain 514 kilograms of cocaine.
The drugs were worth up to £57 million when sold in Australia, where prices are significantly higher than in the UK.
In the UK, a kilogram of cocaine wholesale costs about £26,000, but in Australia the same amount sells for £110,000.
Police traced the shipment to Dhir and Raijada, who had set up a front company called Viefly Freight Services for the sole purpose of smuggling drugs.
The two defendants have served as directors of the company at different times since its incorporation in June 2015.
Raijada’s fingerprints were found on the plastic packaging of the metal toolbox containing the seized drugs, while receipts for an order for the toolbox worth £2,855 were found at the couple’s home.
The NCA’s case is that 37 shipments have been sent to Australia since June 2019, of which 22 were fake and 15 contained cocaine.
From March 2003 to October 2016, Dhir was employed by a flight services company at Heathrow Airport.
Raijada worked for the same company from March 2014 to December 2016.
NCA investigators believe their knowledge of airport cargo procedures was used to cover up their criminal activities.
Dhir and Raijada were arrested on June 21, 2021, at their home in Hanwell. Police seized gold-plated silver bars worth £5,000, £13,000 was found at the home and £60,000 in cash was found in a safe.
After further investigation, the two were arrested again in February 2023.
NCA officers discovered nearly £3 million in cash hidden in boxes and suitcases in a storage room in Hanwell that Raijada rented in his mother’s name.
The financial investigation found they also bought a flat in Ealing for £800,000 and a Land Rover for £62,000, although their claimed profits were only a few thousand pounds.
The investigation revealed that the two defendants held far more cash in their bank accounts than their declared income.
They have deposited nearly £740,000 in cash into 22 different bank accounts since 2019 and are further accused of money laundering.
The National Crime Agency will now launch proceeds of crime proceedings against the two defendants in a bid to deprive them of their assets.
NCA senior investigating officer Piers Phillips said: “Arti Dhir and Kavaljitsinh Raijada used their insider knowledge of the air cargo industry to traffic cocaine worth tens of millions of pounds from the UK to Australia, where they knew they could To maximize their income.” “They kept their illegal profits in cash in their homes and storage units and purchased property, gold and silver in an attempt to hide their wealth. These defendants may have thought they had escaped the pain caused by drug dealing, but Their greed fuels this,” Philips said.
“The NCA has worked closely with our partners in Australia and the UK Border Force to disrupt the supply chain created by Dhir and Raijada and bring them to justice. We will continue to target and regulate the supply of Class A drugs in the UK and UK Chain of criminals. Overseas,” the senior investigator said.
The murder charges against the couple relate to the February 2017 murders of their 11-year-old adopted son Gopal Sejani and his brother-in-law Harsukhbhai Kardani in India.
An investigation by the Gujarat police alleged that the accused hatched a conspiracy to adopt Gopal and then insure him for about Rs 1.3 crore before committing the kidnapping and murder in India to share the life insurance payout.
In July 2019, London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court rejected India’s extradition request for the two men on the grounds of human rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
In February 2020, India’s appeal to the High Court in London was also dismissed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
