BVI premier arrested on drug charges in Miami

| 28/04/2022 | 93 Comments
Cayman News Service
BVI Premier Andrew Fahie

(CNS): The premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Fahie, has been arrested in the United States on charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering. According to various US news reports, he was arrested at a Miami-area airport by federal agents on charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the US and money laundering. BVI’s port authority director, Oleanvine Maynard, has also been arrested.

They were arrested at Miami-Opa-locka Executive Airport after they met with undercover DEA agents posing as cocaine traffickers to check out an alleged shipment of $700,000 in cash on an airplane that they believed was destined for the BVI, US law enforcement officials told the Miami Herald.

The men were attending the Sea Trade cruise convention in Miami. They allegedly went to the airport this morning to see the cash which DEA agents, posing as Mexican cartel members, told them was a payoff for allowing the cartel’s future cocaine loads to be moved through the overseas territory to the United States.

A Commission of Inquiry was set up in the BVI in January 2021 to look into allegations of corruption, abuse of office and other serious dishonesty among public, elected and statutory officials in the territory and make recommendations about the governance and the operation of the law enforcement and justice systems there. The report was completed earlier this month and handed to the BVI Governor John Rankin.

In a statement on the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office website, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was appalled by the serious allegations.

“This arrest demonstrates the importance of the recently concluded Commission of Inquiry,” she said. “I have spoken to the Governor of the BVI and he will be holding an emergency meeting of the Territory’s Cabinet later today. He will set out next steps tomorrow, including urgent publication of the Inquiry’s report.”

Allegations of systemic corruption, cronyism, jury intimidation and misuse of public funds were made during the public hearings, where Sir Geoffrey Cox QC represented Premier Fahie and other government ministers.

Following Fahie’s arrest, Governor Rankin issued a statement saying he would be releasing the report on the inquiry as soon as possible but it was not a criminal investigation and the two were not linked.

“The arrest was a US operation led by the DEA and is not linked to the Commission of Inquiry report,” he said. “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,” he said as he called for calm across the territory.


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Category: Caribbean, Crime, USA, World News

Comments (93)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Well we can’t exactly throw stones.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yup. Same dog puppy. The true outrage is that our systems of good governance have not already intervened. The police, ombudsman, ACC, FCO, all appear incapable of even reigning in the abject and repeated failures in our governance.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Chapter 10 of the Commission of Inquiry Report is of direct relevance to Cayman’s own corruption problem. Pointed comment is directed at the fact that some 250 inverted persons were given belonged status in 2011 with no vetting. Could the Governor of Cayman please confirm how it is that that is grounds for direct rule, but Cayman politicians did the same thing to almost 3,000 of their friends and no issue? #Leggewasright.

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  3. Union Jack says:

    Suspension of the BVI constitution on the way, just the the TCI. Shows the problem with an overly narrow franchise focused on nativism that effectively creates rotten boroughs and leads to corruption at all levels of governance. Extending the franchise of the BOTs to UK and Commonwealth citizens would go a long way to stop this repeating itself again.

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    • Anonymous says:

      A National vote would accomplish the same thing without diminishing Caymanian’s control of their own future. Anyone who has been Caymanian and lived in Cayman for more than 10 years should be allowed to run.

      Except for Michael Ryan.

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      • Logic says:

        Being allowed to live here is not enough for the Expat community who can’t an will never be able to run for house in their own country but want to dictate what happens here in the land of milk an honey…y’all already getting too much privilege, Be grateful..Bout Caymanian😂

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      • Anonymous says:

        And Mac

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      • Anonymous says:

        You can’t exclude individuals. You can exclude people convicted of dishonesty. If of course they are ever convicted.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Be happy for being granted status, which allows you to vote, but not run for public office. However, if you lay down roots and your family stays here, then your grandchildren can run for public office. That is very fair.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    And we thought Missick in TCI was bad?

    Public corruption should be exposed and prosecuted to the full extent. When it involves funding international terrorism – it should include long sentences in some US SuperMax! prison.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    I used to travel to BVI and TCI very often on business and the corruption was obvious even to the casual observer.

    I used to think, “Thank God Cayman isn’t like that”.

    That was only less than 10 years ago and truthfully, I cannot hold Cayman above those others Territories – with some of the revelations about public agencies and officers.

    We’ll be the next, especially with some of the players in our present political scene!

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    • Anonymous says:

      We are already ahead. In our ministry we have wife beaters, people with 5th grade educations, ex-cocaine dealers, convicted felons and many more with histories of corruption.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I have to disagree with you on a few points of order.

        1. I’m not convinced of the 5th grade education being achieved for several of them.

        2. There is no such thing as an ex-cocaine dealer. There are active, and inactive, cocaine dealers. I would hazard a guess that 10% of our parliament are dealers.

    • Anonymous says:

      Did you read the AG’s report that highlighted the actions of Eric Bush? Cayman is no better.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Need to start arresting some of the top people here in Cayman for Corruption

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      • Anonymous says:

        Eric is an amateur compared to the other widespread shit that has been going on for decades. You just have to look at the cabinet status grants to see the full fallacy of any concept of good governance.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Eric is a great place to start and to demonstrate that there is accountability in the civil service from the highest levels down to the other levels

          • Anonymous says:

            He is joined to Franz at the hip.

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            • Anonymous says:

              So start with those responsible for illegal status grants, then the tens or even hundreds of civil servants that robbed us as part of Gasboy, then anyone illegally paving driveways, then those involved in carepay, then have a word with Eric before passing quickly on to stipend frauds. I have missed out a lot, but I am sure we can find stuff for the authorities to look at in any gaps. The spin offs from the status grants are almost certainly more than our police could handle, all by themselves.

        • UnCivil Servant says:

          If he broke laws that were highlighted by the Auditor General then he has to face the consequences. What makes him special or above the constitution or laws besides being Franz’s boy and a member of lodge?

  6. Co Incidence says:

    Did Gov’t by any chance have any representatives attending the Sea Trade Cruise Convention – just wondering?.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Classic.

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  8. Orrie Merren says:

    Wow. This sounds like it’s out of the pages of a crime and corruption novel.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Not good for BOT image, and just encourages more bad press. To be honest I still can’t figure why the UK casually hands over the reins without checking the ability of the riders.

  9. Anonymous says:

    BVI is like Brac being it’s own territory. You guys need to grow some honest cops of your own because the rest of the English speaking Caribbean is a lost cause.

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    • Anonymous says:

      It appears that BVI also had a bad cop among its ranks. Now, the BVI Premier is entangled in the same bad behavior: Cocaine Trafficking.

      Looks like the then outgoing Governor heard the gripes/allegations of the BVI people and launched a corruption. Thankfully, the now duly elected Governor was willing & able to see it through.
      Now, let’s await the publication 🤞 of the inquiry into BVI Public Office Corruption, as well as its Judicial Services.

      https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/01/bvi-governor-launches-corruption-inquiry/

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      • Anonymous says:

        The BVI governor did a non-criminal inquiry to figure out how to reorganize the government to eliminate corruption. This is what we call “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” As there is no mention of any actual BVI criminal investigation, its safe to assume one was not even considered. Yet the US can sleuth it out even though its not their island. What the hell is wrong with all the police forces operating under UK rules? They NEVER uncover things like this.

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        • Anonymous says:

          you think this was a co-incidence? This slaps of MI6 wanting to remove a petulant child with the co-operation of Felix and his gang.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Good! Exactly how it should work.

          • Anonymous says:

            A petulant corrupt high level criminal scum of a child. Good.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Well, since we already have our James Bond accountants, lawyers and bankers here, why not have them coordinate with Felix on getting some of the bad apples here. Or, wait, isn’t that illegal too?

      • Anonymous says:

        There is no “duly elected Governor”. HE Governor is appointed.

  10. Anonymous says:

    TCI, BVI, who’s next?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Same thinking 🤔.
      A couple months ago, the Cayman Islands Port Authority had similar issues, and nothing more than a few employee dismissals & NO ARRESTS. The Government & entire Island has been silent on the matter. Nothing. Nada.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Could we have a Commission of inquiry here please?

    While we are at it: Why is that the Americans are so good at arresting overseas territory politicians and those territories police are so bad at it?

    Magic condos? Magic status grants? Gasboy? Carepay? Webb? Stipends? Etc. etc. etc.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Have our cops determined whether the Northside topsoil was stolen yet?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Or the beach sand that has been stolen and resold by a certain well know individual with familial cabinet connections.

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      • Anonymous says:

        No, they are stil trying to work out the 50+ kilo cocaine thefts (x2) from their police vault.

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    • Anonymous says:

      They good at arresting furriners Lets see if Trump is ever arrested

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    • Anonymous says:

      Because the offence took place on US soil, maybe?!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Did it? The acceptance of a bribe seems to have actually taken place largely in the BVI. It’s only after the deal has been agreed that they arrange a meeting in Miami so they have jurisdiction for an arrest without the difficulty of an extradition warrant.

    • Anonymous says:

      The reality of the world everyone likes to pretend isn’t true, is that the only real authority in the world is violence. You can arrest anyone of the officials from the US, but are you willing to deal with the threat of violence and follow up from a powerful nation? We cannot and don’t have a chance in hell to take on any country. If jamaica wanted to invade, they could and we would just turn over on our stomachs and wait for someone else to come help us.

      The people of our islands have no way to hold our elected leaders and those in positions of power because we have means to. We are not allowed to use violence or the threats of violence, only the government does. People talk shit about the US system, and it has its fair share of criticisms trust me, but one thing we need to stop pretending is that the population having firearms keeps their authorities in check (somewhat).

      Look at how criminals have taken over. Noone on this island is willing to talk to the police about anything because criminals use violence to keep us in check. The murder of the crown witness is a perfect example. Everyone knew the fear was real before but we were all served a humbling reminder, there are leaks in the police/justice system and the threat of violence keeps us quiet about it.

      So lets not spew the same rubbish complaints.. “Why is Cayman behind?… Hold KeeKee accountable.. Our XYZ is so corrupt why are they still failing upwards”.. the answer is simple, because we have nothing to back up our words with and its by design.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Forgive my ignorance, but I keep seeing references to “Gasboy” have no clue what this is referring to. Perhaps someone might be kind enough to point to a concise explanation (maybe a link to a news article or similar). Thank you in advance.

      CNS: It occurred in 2010. See – AG suspects $½ M fuel fraud (Note that the headline refers to the auditor general, not the attorney general. We stopped using AG for the auditor some years ago to avoid confusion.)

      There was a lot of follow-up. See the ‘Gasboy’ tag in the CNS archives here. There’s two pages of it.

      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you CNS. THAT is corruption. The police seem to have been directly involved. No one has been held accountable. We are corrupt. #Leggewasright.

      • Anonymous says:

        Why were there no arrests? Were the police in on it? (Serious questions).

      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you, CNS. I do recall this, but didn’t recall the “Gasboy” tag. Much appreciate.

  12. Nostradamus says:

    First it was the Turks and Caicos, now the BVI, will it be us next?.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No because what you people don’t appreciate is that we actually have a wonderful Premier who is educated, intelligent and represents Cayman well at home and abroad. God bless our Premier!

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      • Anonymous says:

        True about our Premier, but some others, including in our civil service…

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        • Anonymous says:

          8:19 it is our strong civil service working with the elected government that has ensured Caymans good reputation.

          Our civil service and oversight bodies would never allow a corrupt premier to operate.

          Give credit where it is due.

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          • Anonymous says:

            We thrive in spite of our civil service. NOT because of it. It is wasteful, oversized, inept (criminally in some cases), and obstructive. There is too little accountability, and it represents the worst of Trinidad and Jamaica, rather than the best of Cayman.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Umm… you remember some status grants and some condos and some planning permissions and some commissions and gasboy and trainergate and Webb and driveway paving and CCTV contracts and missing marl and missing drugs and missing topsoil and stipend frauds and ….?

            Massive failures of and by the Civil Service. Get your head out of the denial pit and work to fix it!

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          • Anonymous says:

            This must be satire. There is no accountability in civil service. Those that push for accountability and transparency get “retired”.

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          • Anonymous says:

            LOL!

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          • Anonymous says:

            “Our civil service and oversight bodies would never allow a corrupt premier to operate.”

            LMFAO!

            7:53, put down your pipe.

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          • Anonymous says:

            If that comment was not made in jest, you clearly have not been paying attention.

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          • SMH says:

            The civil service is a joke. The leadership acts like clowns with fancy sound bites. The service is as strong Franz Manderson and Eric Bush.

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            • Anonymous says:

              Have you heard Ahearn spouting her admiration for DG at every opportunity? She acts like she has become a groupie. It is a cult of personality. Not a civil service. Dear Leader would be proud.

      • Kat says:

        He might be intelligent but sadly his actions are handcuffed by his colleagues of dubious intellect.

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      • Nostradamus says:

        No complaints about the Premier, it’s the res of them we are worried about.

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      • Anonymous says:

        We also have a man with a record for selling drugs in Cabinet, and unanswered allegations about a former cabinet minister being involved in shipping drugs. So I am sure the US authorities don’t consider us as a risky destination, no siree Bob.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Shame nobody in our Government has dropped the ball just yet. But it will come, soon enough.

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  14. Say it like it is says:

    First it was the Turks and Caicos, now the BVI, will we be next?.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    There was another crack dealer at that same conference.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Should have watched NARCO’s to see how this was going to play out for him.

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