Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she is “appalled” after the Premier of the British Virgin Islands was arrested in the States on suspicion of drug charges.
Andrew Fahie was detained in Miami on Thursday morning after being caught in a sting operation carried out by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Agents had posed as drug lord El Chapo’s Mexican Sinaloa cartel members.
Both Fahie and Maynard, who were in Miami for a cruise convention, went to the airport to see an alleged load of money.
DEA agents told them that the cash was a payoff for allowing the cartel’s future cocaine loads to be transported through the British territory to the United States.
Last night, the men were held on charges related to conspiracy to import a controlled substance and money laundering, the island’s Governor John Rankin announced.
“As this concerns the arrest of a British citizen, the [US] government has informed the [UK] government of this arrest, as part of the usual process followed when a British citizen is arrested abroad,” he said.
“The UK government has subsequently informed me as governor.”
Fahie and Oleanvine Maynard, manager director of the BVI's port authority, were taken into custody at the Miami-Opa-Locka Executive Airport.
They were arrested after they met with undercover DEA agents posing as cocaine traffickers to check out an alleged shipment of £561,000 in cash on an aeroplane that they believed was destined for their island.
Ms Truss said: "The Premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in the United States on charges related to drugs trafficking and money laundering.
“I am appalled by these serious allegations. This arrest demonstrates the importance of the recently concluded Commission of Inquiry.
“I have spoken to the Governor of the BVI, and he will be holding an emergency meeting of the Territory’s Cabinet."
The British territory, an archipelago, has a population of only 30,000.
