British Virgin Islands premier asserts immunity in cocaine case
Source: Associated Press
British Islands premier asserts immunity in cocaine case
By JOSHUA GOODMAN
May 2, 2022
MIAMI (AP) — The premier of the British Virgin Islands on Monday demanded his immediate release from U.S. custody, arguing he is immune from prosecution on cocaine-smuggling charges because he is the elected, constitutional head of government of the British overseas territory.
An attorney for Andrew Fahie made the request in a filing with Miami federal court.
Fahie, 51, was arrested last week during a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting as he was preparing to board a private jet in Miami.
According to a criminal complaint, Fahie and Oleanvine Maynard, his ports director, had been at the airport to meet who they thought were Mexican drug traffickers but in reality were undercover DEA agents. In the criminal complaint, Maynard refers to Fahie as a “little crook sometimes” who wouldn’t hesitate to profit from a plan cooked up with the help of self-proclaimed Lebanese Hezbollah operatives to move mass quantities of cocaine and drug proceeds through the Caribbean island.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-miami-florida-constitutions-smuggling-3bfea6a8f82787cbefd88f7e934fc620
This photo released by the Department of Information and Public Relations of the government of the British Virgin Islands on April 22, 2022 shows British Virgin Island Premier Andrew Alturo Fahie. Fahie and the director of the Caribbean territory’s ports were scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami on Friday, April 29, 2022 after their arrest on drug smuggling charges in a sting set up by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (Department of Information and Public Relations of the government of the British Virgin Islands via AP)
