The premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has been arrested in a sting operation in Miami on charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and money laundering.
The BVI governor, John Rankin, confirmed in a statement that Andrew Fahie had been arrested on Thursday morning, saying: “I realise this will be shocking news for people in the territory. And I would call for calm at this time.”
Oleanvine Maynard, the manager director of the Caribbean territory’s port authority, and her son Kadeem were also detained in the operation.
Court papers filed in Florida alleged Fahie, who was also referred to as “head coach”, was involved in conspiracy to import at least 5kg of cocaine and money laundering between 16 October last year and 28 April 2022.
DEA agents allege in the documents that Oleanvine and Kadeem Maynard agreed with undercover agents – who were posing as members of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel – to set up a meeting between Lebanese Hezbollah operatives and Fahie in order to establish a place to store thousands of kilograms of drugs arriving from Colombia.
