Indian Couple Jailed in Massive Drug Bust

In a sensational case involving more than half a ton of cocaine, a drug-smuggling couple of Indian origin finds themselves behind bars for a lengthy term: 33 years to be exact. The criminal duo of Kavaljitsinh Raijada, 35, and his spouse Arti Dhir, 59, were arrested and taken into custody by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). As reported by the Daily Mail newspaper, the errant pair was convicted for exporting 700 Million Pound Sterling worth of the contraband to Australia between 2019 and 2021. 

Raijada and Dhir had started a cargo company named Viefly Freight Services in 2015, using the same as a front for their nefarious operations. Each of them had functioned as directors of the firm at different points and had used their previous experience while working at Heathrow Airport for their criminal ends. The judge assigned to the case said at the sentencing, “Drugs are a menace to society. People commit crimes under the influence of drugs. They bring misery and health problems to their users.” 

The prosecuting lawyer Hugh French likened this outrageous case to popular TV dramas Breaking Bad and Ozark, based on the magnitude and audacity of the crimes in question. In the two serials, the main characters perpetrate large-scale drug-pushing and money-washing schemes. 

Back to reality, this couple pleaded their case before a grand jury. But their efforts went in vain as the group deemed them guilty of 12 counts of illegal exportation and 18 counts of money-laundering. Authorities Down Under cracked open the case when they intercepted six metal tool boxes containing a whopping 514 kilos of the illicit white powder. Receipts of the containers and Raijada’s fingerprints on the plastic wrapping proved sufficient to apprehend the couple.

It looks like the duo has got their comeuppance, considering that they were also wanted in India for the murders of two relatives: Raijada’s brother-in-law and adopted son. But Raijada and his wife evaded extradition by appealing to a British court on the grounds that serving a life sentence in an Indian prison would violate their human rights. It looks like the sentenced couple has now run out of options for judicial recourse and will have to settle into a British jail for a long time to come.