Photo: BVI Government / Courtesy
British Virgin Islands Prime Minister Andrew Fahie was arrested Thursday in Miami and is accused of agreeing to assist a federal informant posing as member of the Sinaloa cartel to move thousands of kilos of cocaine through the port of his country, according to federal court documents.
The chief port officer of the British Virgin Islands Oleanvine Maynard was also arrested on charges of drug conspiracy and money laundering, according to the complaint filed in the United States District Court in Miami.
Prime Minister Andrew Fahie, of 51 years old, was arrested at Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport after he boarded what had been presented as a private plane and inspected shopping bags containing $675,000 dollars in cash, according to the complaint.
“Why are you arresting me?”, he allegedly said, according to the documents. “I have no money and no drugs.”
Oleanvine Maynard, the managing director of the country’s port authority, was arrested later Thursday after that, authorities alleged, accepted a payment of $200,000 as part of the deal.
Maynard’s son, Kadeem Maynard, who is Accused of helping broker the settlement, he was also arrested on drug conspiracy and money laundering charges, said Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. .
“Today is yet another example of the DEA’s resolve to hold corrupt members of the government accountable for using their positions of power to provide a safe haven for drug traffickers and money launderers in exchange for their own financial and political gain,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
British Virgin Islands Governor John Rankin said in a statement: “It is my duty as Governor to report that this morning the Honorable Prime Minister Fahie was arrested in Miami on charges related to a conspiracy to import controlled substance and money laundering”.
Given that this is the arrest of a British citizen, the United States government has informed the United Kingdom of this arrest “as part of the normal process followed when a British citizen is arrested abroad”, added the governor.
Fahie and Maynard, who according to the Miami Herald were in South Florida participating in Seatrade Cruise Global, the world’s leading cruise industry event, were arrested by undercover federal agents.
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