British drug baron who exported £700m worth of cocaine to Australia with her husband is ordered to pay back just £800K

A British drug baron who exported £700million worth of cocaine to Australia with her husband has been ordered to pay back only £808,000.Arti Dhir, 61, and her husband Kaval Raijada, 36, are serving 33-year jail sentences after they were convicted of drug trafficking charges in 2024 for smuggling up to seven tons of the class A substance to Australia.It was the biggest ever case of its kind where the couple even set up a ‘Breaking Bad’-style carwash to launder the cash.They also moved £3million in boxes and suitcases around different storage sites in the capital and hid seven gold-plated bullion bars in a punchbag at their London flat. They were foiled when the Australian authorities discovered the drugs and alerted the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA).The NCA's investigation found the couple set up a fake company that used commercial planes to ship the cocaine around the world hidden in metal toolboxes.One consignment alone was found to contain over half a ton of cocaine, with an estimated street value in Australia of £57million.The couple gained £743,399,708.83 from their illegal dealings but Dhir – who is 25 years older than her husband – was ordered to pay back only £808,627.81, Southwark Crown Court heard.Arti Dhir, 59, exported £700million worth of cocaine and escaped extradition with her husband for the murders of two relatives in India has been ordered to pay back just £808,000Kaval Raijada, 35, weas sentenced to 33 years in prison along with his wife after they were found to be two of Britain's biggest drug baronsJudge Usha Karu gave Dhir three months to pay £808,627.81 or serve another seven years imprisonment. Dhir and Raijada had escaped extradition to India on charges of murdering their adopted son and his brother-in-law in Gujarat. The couple were accused of arranging to have an 11-year-old Gopal Sejani killed for a £150,000 insurance payout in February 2017.Gopal was abducted by two men on motorbikes, stabbed and left by a road in Gujarat.His brother-in-law, Harsukh Kardani, was also attacked as he tried to defend Gopal and both died of their injuries in hospital later that month.Dhir and Raijada were arrested in the UK in June 2017, on charges including conspiracy to murder and kidnapping, after a request from the Indian government.But District Judge Emma Arbuthnot turned down India’s extradition request at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July 2019 on human rights grounds.India appealed against the decision but the appeal was thrown out at the Court of Appeal in February 2020.Following a tip-off from their Aussie counterparts, NCA officers found a substantial amount of ‘cash and bullion’ in the couple’s west London home.They were convicted of 12 charges of cocaine exportation and 18 of money laundering between 2019 and 2021 after a ten-week trial and given 33 years each in 2024.Hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash was deposited in multiple bank accounts and £522,900 was used to buy a house in west London. Photos have revealed the dreary London flat that hid a quiet couple's fortune made from a £700million cocaine racket The criminal couple transported £3million in boxes around different storage lock-ups in London Judge Usha Karu gave Dhir three months to pay £808,627.81 or serve another seven years imprisonmentDamning photos revealed the couple's grimy flat which they used to store illegal items, featuring a grotty red carpet, stained walls and rundown furniture. Thousands of pounds worth of £50 notes can be seen inside a bedside table while another image shows the seven bullion bars laid out after being discovered.Other photos show dozens of boxes and suitcases stashed inside a storage container in London.Officers also found £3million in cash and silver bars in a safety deposit box. Dhir and Raijada were so shameless in their crimes that they continued to make plans to smuggle drugs as they fought extradition from the UK to India.Raijada denied involvement in cocaine trafficking allegations and said his wealthy father in India would send him funds through Western Union, Moneygram and by courier service.But he said he ‘could not answer’ why he kept a USB stick containing an invoice for aluminium shipment boxes, identical to those used to transport the drug to Australia.Dhir also distanced herself from the plot and claimed her wealth came from legitimate sources.Raijada and Dhir were both linked to Viefly Freight Services, the air cargo shipping company at the centre of the smuggling allegations.They chose Australia as cocaine fetches up to three times on the street there as it does in the UK.The judge is yet to make an order against Raijada under the Proceeds of Crime Act.