Arti Dhir and Kavaljitsinh Raijada trafficked $154.2m in cocaine in toolboxes

A husband and wife have been convicted of trafficking $154.2m in cocaine hidden in toolboxes in an elaborate plot they set up to fly drugs to Australia.

A husband and wife were likened to characters from TV series Breaking Bad as they were sentenced to 33 years jail for elaborate trafficking of more than half a tonne of cocaine from Heathrow Airport to Australia.

Indian-British nationals Arti Dhir, 59, and Kavaljitsinh Raijada, 35, were convicted of trafficking $154.2m in cocaine hidden in toolboxes sent as airfreight from a front company they set up.

But this is now suspected of having been just a small seizure from a significantly larger operation by the couple likened to something from hit TV shows Breaking Bad or Ozark.

The intricate plot was first exposed in May 2021 when Australian Border Force at Sydney Airport found the cocaine then NSW Police State Crime Command began a controlled delivery operation to uncover the Australian end of the transnational network.

But it would take another three years before the couple would be convicted and sentenced for the elaborate airfreight drug runs and gold and money laundering enterprise.

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A married couple Arti Dhir and Kavaljitsinh Raijada were convicted of exporting more than half a tonne of cocaine to Australia, after a National Crime Agency investigation.

The couple is also suspected of the kidnapping and double murder allegedly as part of a life insurance plot in India, but denied the allegation.

The couple from west London had both worked for a flight services company based at Heathrow Airport from 2003 until 2016 when they set up their own air freight company solely to traffic drugs to Australia.

They made 37 freight consignment flights to Australia, 22 as “dummy runs” and 15 carrying cocaine. The half a tonne haul was the only one seized with the other suspected of having got through. The British National Crime Authority worked with NSW Police to unravel the operation which was suspected of being much bigger.

Raijada offloading drugs. Picture: NCA

Multi drug runs were orchestrated from Heathrow Airport in west London. Picture: AFP

At the time of their arrest in London, police found more than $6m in cash hidden in boxes and suitcases in a storage facility with another $100,000 in a safety deposit box, $26,000 cash and $10,000 worth of gold-plated silver bars in their home as well as a trail of luxury homes and cars in their names.

Another $1.4m was deposited into 22 different bank accounts.

Seizure orders have now been made on the bounty.

The pair were earlier this year convicted by a jury on 12 counts of drug exportation and 18 counts of money laundering in a London court.

Prosecutor Hugh French told the court: “It’s like something out of Breaking Bad or Ozark,” and described the “ruthless and greedy” pair as “very different from the average married couple”.

Listen to the Cocaine Inc. podcast below:

So much cash was made, only some of it was banked with the bulked stored in cardboard boxes and suitcases. Picture: NCA

Three Australians were also charged and convicted for commercial drug supply.

NCA senior investigator Piers Phillips said the British pair used their knowledge of airfreight to traffic cocaine and chose Australia specifically for the high value the drugs command. He said Australian authorities were instrumental in snapping the supply chain.

NSW Police Organised Crime Squad commander, Detective Superintendent Peter Faux, said the result was a great example of how law enforcement are working together to disrupt the international drug trade.

“Serious and organised criminal networks often have no borders, which is why working collaboratively with our international counterparts is so important to tackle what is a global issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, authorities in India and Britain are still looking into allegations the British pair conspired to commit murder with the hiring of assassins in 2017 who went onto stab to death two people, following the placement of a newspaper ad for parents to sell children on the promise of a new life in London. That plot was allegedly tied to a $300,000 life insurance policy taken out on a 12-year-old boy, subsequently murdered. The duo denied the allegation and an initial extradition hearing stalled on account of a judgement on potential human rights breaches if they were facing life in jail in India.

Originally published as Arti Dhir and Kavaljitsinh Raijada trafficked $154.2m in cocaine in toolboxes