Two Indian-origin men have been sentenced to imprisonment in Britain for smuggling cocaine, cannabis and cigarettes into the country hidden in shipments of perishable goods. Anand Tripathi (61) and Varun Bhardwaj (39) were sentenced to 19 years and 15 years in jail, respectively, after they were convicted in November, following a 71-day trial at Isleworth Crown Court, the Crown Prosecution Service said. They were also sentenced for not paying 9,774,220 pounds in import duties and VAT on 18.6 million cigarettes they smuggled on three dates, separate from the drug imports. The court heard that in total the men imported 272.86 kg of cocaine and 2,503.36 kg of cannabis across four shipments between September 2021 and November 2022. One shipment contained just over two tonnes of cannabis hidden amongst yams from Ghana. Another containing 49 kg of cocaine was concealed with oranges from South Africa. The drugs had an estimated street value of 28.9 million pounds but were all seized before they could be sold on and later destroyed by police.
