Former BVI Premier Andrew Fahie Drug Trial Starts

Almost twenty-four months after his apprehension at Miami Airport in the United States, the cocaine smuggling and money laundering trial of former British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew Fahie started on Monday, January 29.

In April 2022, Fahie along with Oleanvine Pickering Maynard, the Managing Director of BVI Ports Authority, and her son, Kadeem Stephan Maynard, were arrested during a sting operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The trio was charged with conspiring to traffic cocaine and launder money by facilitating the secure passage of substantial quantities of Colombian cocaine through BVI ports destined for Miami.

The Maynard duo entered into an arrangement with federal authorities, pledging to provide testimony against Andrew Fahie.

In November 2023, Kadeem received a federal prison sentence of nearly five years for his involvement in a cocaine trafficking operation. Currently, his mother is in federal custody awaiting her sentencing day in court.

During the court proceedings on Monday, Fahie’s attorney Theresa Van Vliet  filed a motion aimed at restricting prosecutors from introducing any evidence extracted from her client’s phone.

She contended that the material in question included personal health information about Fahie’s relatives, which she argued is irrelevant to the case.

Additionally, Van Vliet raised concerns about whether the Government of the British Virgin Islands had been consulted to address and resolve potential confidentiality or privacy issues related to the evidence.

The submitted evidence encompassed correspondence between Fahie and BVI Police Commissioner Mark Collins, as well as Fahie’s assistant and building contractor.

In December 2023, the prosecution submitted a comprehensive list of exhibits, encompassing recordings of phone conversations and meetings involving Fahie and the Maynards.

The prosecution plans to present data extracted from several of Fahie’s devices, such as a Note 10+ mobile phone and a Surface tablet.

Judge Kathleen Williams has not yet rendered a decision on the defence motion.

The prosecution’s case is that Fahie and the Maynards stood to gain millions, with the funds strategically routed through various businesses and bank accounts to obscure their origin.

The criminal complaint affidavit said they engaged in a sequence of meetings during March and April of 2022 with an alleged drug trafficker to finalise the illicit deal.

The affidavit contends that Fahie and Oleanvine Maynard were responsible for obtaining necessary licences, ensuring the concealment of cocaine-laden vessels within BVI ports, and discreetly influencing a potentially troublesome government official.

Discussions reportedly included plans to conduct a trial run involving 3,000 kilograms of cocaine through a BVI port, followed by subsequent shipments of similar quantities once or twice a month over four months.

The alleged compensation for Fahie and O. Maynard was tied to a percentage of the proceeds from the cocaine sales, totaling millions of dollars.

While the Maynards remained in federal custody, in May 2022, Fahie was granted $500,000 bail, a move contested by prosecutors who contended that his release posed a flight risk, coupled with the potential for engaging in illicit activities upon regaining freedom.

The terms of his bail dictated that the former premier remained in Miami, restricted to the leased residence of his two college-aged daughters.