Crime & Justice

British Virgin Islands Premier Busted in Miami on Cocaine Charges

WITH GREAT POWDER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

The head of the territory’s government was arrested on charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering.

GettyImages-1126514780_rbx44x
R.J. Sangosti/Media News Group/The Denver Post via Getty

The premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in a Thursday sting operation at a Florida airport on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Andrew Fahie, the head of the Caribbean territory’s government, was arrested alongside the managing director of the BVI’s port authority, Oleanvine Maynard. The pair were ensnared after undercover federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration posed as cocaine traffickers from Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. The agents offered the government officials a supposed $700,000 payoff to allow the cartel to import cocaine through the territory and into the United States. When Fahie and Maynard, who were in Miami for a cruise convention, went to check out the payment, they were detained, the Miami Herald reported. John Rankin, the BVI’s governor, confirmed the arrest in a statement, saying, “I realize this will be shocking news for people in the territory. And I would call for calm at this time.” The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said she was “appalled by these serious allegations” against Fahie and that she would be holding emergency talks with Rankin to set out “next steps.”

Read it at Miami Herald