Drug trafficking: Prime Minister of the British Virgin Islands arrested in the United States
The capital of the British Virgin Islands, Roadtown, in the Caribbean (Illustrative Image).
© Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 Henry AW
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The Prime Minister of the British Virgin Islands was arrested overnight in the United States.
This overseas territory of the United Kingdom is already targeted by an investigation for corruption and bad governance.
The Virginia governor speaks of “
shocking
” news for his fellow citizens.
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Prime Minister of the British Virgin Islands since 2019, Andrew Fahie spent the night from Thursday to Friday in a prison in Miami, Florida.
He is suspected of money laundering and drug trafficking.
US DEA agents posed as members of a Mexican drug cartel to frame the Virginian politician, our London correspondent,
Émeline Vin
, tells us .
Arrested alongside him, two port officials from the archipelago who allegedly agreed to facilitate the movement of drugs in the ports of the British Virgin Islands for nearly 700,000 euros.
The arrests come as for fifteen months, Andrew Fahie is targeted by a parliamentary inquiry for bad governance and corruption.
This investigation should have already made its conclusions, but it has no connection with the American accusations.
London is “
appalled
” by the situation
The Prime Minister is elected by the 28,000 inhabitants of the British Virgin Islands, but the United Kingdom also appoints a governor there, representing Queen Elizabeth II.
The latter calls
for “calm
”.
John Rankin said he wanted to "
expedite
" the publication of the survey results to "
avoid any unnecessary speculation
".
For her part, the head of British diplomacy, Liz Truss said she was "
appalled by these serious allegations
" in a press release sent Thursday evening.
She explained that she spoke with the governor of the British Virgin Islands who will hold an “
emergency cabinet meeting of the territory during the day
”.
► To read also: Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was extradited to the United States
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