Billionaire Tetra Pak heir and wife charged with smuggling crack cocaine into US Embassy
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 14th July 2008
One of Britain’s richest men and his glamorous wife have been charged with possessing crack cocaine and heroin.
Hans Kristian Rausing, the heir to a £5.4billion Tetra Pak fortune, and his wife Eva were arrested after she allegedly tried to smuggle small wraps of the drugs into the American Embassy in London.
It is believed she was visiting the embassy to arrange the renewal of her U.S. passport in April when guards made the discovery.
Police were called and the 44-year-old, the daughter of a wealthy Pepsi-Cola executive, was taken to Charing Cross police station for questioning while officers searched the couple’s £5m five-storey Georgian townhouse in Chelsea.
Officers reportedly discovered a £2,000 drug stash and Mr Rausing, 45, was also arrested on suspicion of possessing the drug. The couple were bailed pending further inquiries.
Scotland Yard have now announced that the pair have now been charged and will appear in court later this month.
A spokesman said: ‘Eva Louise Rausing was charged on Sunday with possession of Class A and Class C drugs.
‘Hans Kristian Anders Rausing was charged with possession of Class A drugs.
‘’Both were bailed to appear at City of Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday July 29.’
Speaking after her arrest, the mother of four said: ‘I have made a serious mistake which I very much regret. I have made a grave error and consider myself to have taken a “wrong turn” in the course of my life.
‘I am very sorry for the upset I have caused. I intend to leave as soon as possible to seek the help that I very much need.
‘I am ashamed of my actions. I hope in due course to get back on track to become the person I truly want to be.’
Mr Rausing, known as Hans K to friends and family, and his wife have both had well-documented battles with drug addiction.
The couple met at an addiction clinic in the US and went onto marry and have four children but they always struggled to beat their drug habits.
Eager to use their wealth to help other addicts, they have both became prominent anti-drug supporters and are friends with Prince Charles.
The Rausings have donated millions of pounds to drugs charity in recent years.
They are particularly closely involved with The Mentor Foundation and Action on Addiction, both charities which work to keep young people off drugs.
Last month, Mr Rausing apparently escaped from police through a window at his home when officers turned up to question him about a car crash.
He vanished on Sunday evening as officers arrived to question him after his Audi Quattro allegedly crashed into another car in London before speeding off.
The driver was suspected of drink driving.
After being let in by a maid, officers heard people talking behind a closed bedroom door. When no one opened it, they broke down the door to find Mrs Rausing alone.
However, lawyers acting for Mr Rausing said he did not jump out of the window.
The crash is now being treated by police as a ‘fail to stop’ incident and Mr Rausing must hand his documents in at a police station.
His Swedish father, Hans, who built up the Tetra Pak carton empire with his late brother Gad, has a 3,000-acre country retreat in Wadhurst, East Sussex.
His fortune is said to be around £5.4billion, making him Britain’s seventh-richest man.
Dr Rausing sold his business to his brother Gad in 1998 for £4billion.
At the time this made him the richest man in Britain, a title he has subsequently lost, but still earns £1million a day in interest from his fortune.
