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by pltm
(PLTM) - It appears to be a script plucked out of a movie.
A Criminal Complaint at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida outlining plans by Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew Fahie and Director of the BVI Ports Authority to allow shipments of cocaine to slip through the Territory’s ports undetected enroute to Miami and New York via Puerto Rico.
Hon. Fahie, 51, and Ms. Maynard were arrested on Thursday, April 28 in Miami on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, sending shockwaves globally. Maynard’s son, Kadeem Maynard was also arrested on Thursday, but details were not immediately known about his arrest.
All three are charged with conspiring to import more than five kilos of cocaine into the United States and conspiring to commit money laundering.
According to court filings, Hon. Fahie and Maynard were arrested after they had inspected $700,000 in cash stashed in designer shopping bags on a plane at Miami-Opa locka airport, part of their supposed pay-off for helping the traffickers move cocaine from Colombia.
“Why am I getting arrested, I don’t have any money or drugs,” the agents quoted Premier Fahie as saying as he was led away.
The U.S Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram said, “The arrests of British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew Fahie and Managing Director of BVI Ports Oleanvine Maynard, as well as Maynard’s son, on drug trafficking and money laundering related charges should send a clear message.”
“Anyone involved with bringing dangerous drugs into the United States will be held accountable, no matter their position. Today is yet another example of DEA’s resolve to hold corrupt members of government responsible 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," the DEA official stated.
Confidential Informant
The U.S case appears to rely heavily on a confidential informant, who was posing as a member of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel when he met the Premier and Maynard requesting to use the ports as free passage to ship cocaine in return for a payment of $500,000.
The DEA's complaint shows that the investigation, based on observations and recordings from the informant, started in October, 2021 and progressed quickly through to Thursday’s sting operation in Miami.
“Fahie agreed to allow the confidential source to use the ports to ship his cocaine,” according to the complaint by the DEA.
The U.S alleges that the informant was in the BVI and was introduced to Maynard through a local Lebanese group as someone who can help with the plan to move drugs through the ports.
According to court filings, initial meetings took place between the informant and the Maynards. In one instance, the informant met with the Maynards in St. Thomas to discuss the plan, according to court records.
Ms. Maynard had agreed to create shell companies to hide money from the deal and to assist with the approvals and processing of the documents.
Head Coach & The Touch of Money
Maynard’s son, according to court filings, assured the informant that he had two officers on his payroll and was expected to secure Hon. Fahie’s participation in the scheme, alluding that he had ‘incriminating evidence’ on the Premier.
Kadeem would later confirm to the informant that the ‘head coach’, which the U.S identified as the Premier, wanted to ‘play with the team’, records stated.
On April 1, the informant had a phone call with Fahie and the Maynards, which was recorded.
Court filings stated that Hon. Fahie told the informant that he had been careful and that ‘it took me 20 years to get here and I don’t want to leave in 20 minutes’.
The informant subsequently met with Premier Fahie and Ms. Maynard in person.
Court records show that during the meeting, the Premier had asked the informant for help paying off a debt to a Senegalese man who helped him “fix” some political issues.
In the meeting, according to the court filings, Premier Fahie had pulled out a calculator to work out that his 12 per cent share of the proceeds from selling the shipment in the US would be $7.8M, agreed to allow the traffickers to use the BVI’s ports and requested an upfront payment.
The informant also provided $20,000 in cash to Hon. Fahie as a good faith gesture, court filings say.
Court filings stated that the informant told Hon. Fahie that he was not touching anything, but Hon. Fahie replied, ‘I will touch one thing, the money’, court filings stated.
Government Official 1
Court records referred to a ‘Government official 1’, but did not name that person, as someone who could assist in the scheme. It is believed that the U.S. knows the identity of ‘Government official 1’. During the meeting, the Premier reportedly told the informant that ‘Government official 1’ has a lot of employers.
It is expected that Hon. Fahie and the Maynards will be arraigned today.
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