Fahie and the Maynards are being held on a charge of conspiracy to smuggle in five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to launder money, according to the affidavit. CNN could not determine if any of them had lawyers.
The affidavit alleges that as of October 16, 2021 or so, a confidential source with the US Drug Enforcement Administration had several meetings with “a group of self-proclaimed Lebanese Hezbollah officials … who said they had business ties with the South Florida and the Middle East. “The meetings took place on Tortola Island in the British Virgin Islands, according to the complaint. Throughout these meetings, the confidential source asked the team to help facilitate the use of Tortola as a temporary cocaine storage port transported from Colombia by ship to the United States, he said. The source plan would also include money laundering.
The British Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico. The islands are part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, along with the US Virgin Islands and the Spanish Virgin Islands. According to the affidavit, the group agreed to present the source to senior members of the British Virgin Islands government who could offer protection, for a price. A member of the group said he would approach Fahier’s security chief and arrange a meeting. A team member also claimed that Oleanvine Maynard “had”, according to the affidavit.
Last month, the source met with both Oleanvine Maynard and Kadeem’s son to learn how the operation would work and the roles they and Fahie would play, according to the affidavit. On April 7, 2022, the source went to Tortola and met with the Maynards and then everyone met with Fahie, according to the affidavit. During a long journey to the meeting, Fahi allegedly complained to the source that “the British did not pay him much,” the affidavit states. The source told Fahie that he worked for people in Mexico and wanted to use Tortola’s ports to transport 3,000 kilograms of cocaine for free at a time. The cocaine, which would come from Colombia, would pass through the BVI and then through Puerto Rico on its way to Miami and New York, the source told them, according to the affidavit.
The source suggested a percentage of cocaine sales in the US as payment for their involvement in drug trafficking through BVI ports. The payment offered was 12% of the expected selling price in Miami, which Fahie estimated was more than $ 7.8 million. Fahie reportedly demanded $ 500,000 in advance and an additional $ 83,000 needed to repay a debt owed to someone in Senegal, according to the affidavit. The source also offered to fund Fahie’s re-election campaign and asked for help in choosing Fahie’s final successor to the prime minister.
The parties agreed to make a test run of 3,000kg, which would be followed by 3,000kg that would pass through the island two or three times a month for the next four months, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, the parties launched a plan for the source to leave $ 700,000 in cash on a private jet at the Miami-Opa Locka airport to be recovered by Oleanvine Maynard and an unknown person and transferred back to the BVI. Kadeem Maynard also mediated a side deal with the source where he would receive 60kg of cocaine a week to sell, according to the affidavit. He was also responsible for ensuring that the $ 700,000 jet from Miami would be allowed to land at BVI without any problems, he said.

An arrest was made

On April 28, Fahie and the source boarded a plane at Opa-Locka Airport, where the source showed $ 700,000 in cash that was for him and Oleanvine Maynard. The money was in designer shopping bags, says the affidavit. As Fahie got off the plane after seeing the money, she was taken into custody.
Later that morning, Oleanvine Maynard was transported to the same airport and plane and showed $ 700,000, according to the affidavit. The source gave her $ 200,000 and told her that it was her payment and that the rest of the money was for Fahi. He assured her that the money would be packed and hidden before the flight. As she was getting off the plane, she was also arrested.
The affidavit does not describe where Kadeem Maynard was arrested. The governor of the British Virgin Islands, John Rankin, who is the de facto head of state, announced the arrest of Fahier.
“It is my duty as Governor to inform you that this morning the Honorable Prime Minister Fahie was arrested in Miami on charges related to conspiracy to import controlled substance and money laundering,” Rankin said in a press release.
Rankin, who is a British diplomat, was appointed by the Queen on the advice of the British government. In a statement, Rankin said the U.S. government had informed the British government of the arrest, which was part of a DEA-led operation. “I realize this is shocking news for the people in the Territory. And I would call for calm right now,” Rankin said.
Deputy Prime Minister Natalio Wheatley will remain the incumbent Prime Minister, he said. Wheatley was appointed Prime Minister while Fahie was out of the country. According to a press release from his office, Fahie was in Miami for the annual SeaTrade Summit.
CNN contacted the British Virgin Islands government for more information. In a statement to CNN, British Foreign Secretary Liz Tras said she was disappointed by the serious allegations against Fahi.
“This afternoon, the Prime Minister of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in the United States on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering,” she said in a statement. “I am terrified of these serious allegations.”
Tras also cited an anti-corruption investigation unrelated to the DEA investigation.
“This arrest demonstrates the importance of the recently concluded committee of inquiry. I spoke with the Governor of the BVI and he will hold an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers later today. He will set the next steps tomorrow, including the urgent publication of his report.” , he added.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in a statement that the arrest should send a “clear message” to anyone bringing drugs into the country.
“Anyone involved in smuggling dangerous drugs into the United States will be held accountable, regardless of their position. Today is another example of the DEA’s determination to hold corrupt members of government accountable for using their power to provide safe havens.” to drug traffickers and money laundering in exchange for their own economic and political gain, “said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
CNN’s Max Foster and Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.