UK sends minister to British Virgin Islands after premier's arrest

LONDON: The UK government on Friday said it was dispatching a minister to the British Virgin Islands after the territory’s leader was arrested in the United States to face charges over alleged drugs trafficking and money laundering.

Premier Andrew Fahie and the BVI’s chief port official were arrested at a Miami-area airport after a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

“The arrest yesterday of the Premier of the British Virgin Islands on charges related to drugs trafficking and money laundering is extremely concerning and underlines the need for urgent action,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

Minister for Overseas Territories Amanda Milling will travel “immediately” to the territory to speak to governor John Rankin and key stakeholders, she said.

“We will then announce a clear path forward.”

In January last year, the government voiced “significant concerns about the deteriorating state of governance in the British Virgin Islands, as well as the potential vulnerability of the islands to serious organised crime,” Truss said.

An investigation into alleged corruption and abuse of office under the Fahie government published “urgently” on Friday “shows clearly that substantial legislative and constitutional change is required to restore the standards of governance that the people of the British Virgin Islands are entitled to.”

The inquiry recommended that Rankin, an appointee of Queen Elizabeth II on advice from the UK government, take direct rule of the territory for two years.

Rankin has urged calm in the islands after the “shocking news” of Fahie’s detention.

The self-governing Caribbean archipelago is home to around 35,000 people and is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, which supervises its defence and foreign policy.

It is one of the world’s leading offshore tax havens. Both the local government and London have been accused by anti-corruption campaigners of turning a blind eye to illicit flows of foreign money.

DEA agents at the Miami-Opa-locka Executive Airport took Fahie and BVI Port Authority managing director Oleanvine Maynard into custody after they allegedly agreed to accept money from undercover agents posing as Mexican drug traffickers, the Miami Herald newspaper reported.

Fahie and Maynard were to inspect a plane carrying $700,000 that they would receive in exchange for facilitating cocaine shipments through the territory, reported the Herald, citing US authorities.

The officials’ arrests “should send a clear message”, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.

“Anyone involved with bringing dangerous drugs into the United States will be held accountable, no matter their position.”

Court documents filed Thursday showed Fahie, Maynard and Maynard’s son were all charged with “conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine” and “conspiracy to launder money”.