Politician appointed by the Queen to run the British Virgin Islands arrested on cocaine charges

 

 A politician appointed by the Queen to run the British Virgin Islands is being held in the US over an alleged drug trafficking plot.

 

Andrew Fahie, the premier of the British Virgin Islands, was detained in Miami on Thursday April 28, by the Drug Enforcement Agency. 

 

The 51-year-old has run the British overseas territory in the Caribbean since February 2019.

 

He is accused of involvement in an alleged conspiracy to import a controlled substance and money laundering, according to US authorities. 

 

According to the Miami Herald, agents posed as cocaine traffickers from the Mexican Sinaloa cartel as part of the sting.

 

He allegedly agreed to a £560,000 payment to allow smugglers to use the island’s ports, not realising he was dealing with an undercover informant.

 

Another official, Oleanvine Maynard and his son Kadeem Maynard were also arrested during the operation.

 

Foreign secretary Liz Truss said last night: ‘This afternoon, the Premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in the United States on charges related to drugs trafficking and money laundering.

 

‘I am appalled by these serious allegations.’

 

Mr. Fahie or a representative acting on his behalf are yet to comment on the allegations.

 

A long-running inquiry set up by the British government has been looking into allegations of corruption and governance problems on the island. 

 

The commission made headlines last years when it emerged Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Cox had earned hundreds of thousands of pounds working as a lawyer on behalf of the BVI government. 

 

The former attorney general has previously represented Mr. Fahie at hearings.