MIAMI, Florida: In a sting operation in Miami, Premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) Andrew Fahie was arrested last week for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, along with money laundering charges.
Officials alleged that Oleanvine Maynard, the manager director of the Caribbean territory’s port authority, and her son Kadeem, working with undercover agents, posed as members of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel to set up a meeting between Lebanese Hezbollah operatives and Fahie over storing the drugs from Colombia.
“I realise this will be shocking news for people in the territory. And I would call for calm at this time,” said BVI governor John Rankin, as quoted by the Guardian.
Maynard and Kadeem were also detained.
The plan offered by the agents was to store the drugs, bundled inside 5kg buckets of paint, in the BVI for one or two days before shipment to Miami or New York, the papers said.
Fahie and Maynard were arrested at a Miami airport, after being invited by undercover agents to see a shipment of $700,000 in cash that BVI officials expected to receive for their part in the alleged plot, the court papers alleged.
“I am appalled by these serious allegations,” said Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary.
In his statement, Rankin said Fahie’s arrest was the result of a US operation led by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and was not linked to the Commission of Inquiry report.
“The remit of the Commission of Inquiry focused on governance and corruption, and was not a criminal investigation into the illegal drug trade. To avoid unnecessary speculation, I intend to move ahead urgently on publication of the inquiry report so the people of the BVI can see its contents and its recommendations in the areas it addressed,” he said.
