British Virgin Islands officials arrested in Florida, charged in drug conspiracy

MIAMI — The premier of the British Virgin Islands and the director of the Caribbean territory’s ports were arrested Thursday on drug smuggling charges in South Florida, federal officials said.

Premier Alturo Fahie and Managing Director Oleanvine Maynard were arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents at Miami-Opa-locka Executive Airport and charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to launder money, according to a criminal complaint. Maynard’s son, Kadeem Maynard, faces the same changes in the scheme, according to the records.

Fahie and Oleanvine Maynard had been at the airport to meet with Mexican drug traffickers, who in fact were undercover DEA agents, to see a shipment of $700,000 in cash that the the BVI officials expected to receive for helping smuggle cocaine from Colombia to Miami and New York, officials said in the complaint.

A DEA confidential source had previously met with Maynard and her son after being introduced by a group of self-proclaimed Lebanese Hezbollah operatives, according to the complaint. After Fahie became involved, the BVI officials agreed to to let the smugglers bring the cocaine through the port at Tortola before continuing on to the U.S.