The conviction that met former British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew Alturo Fahie was a stark reminder of the gravity of drug trafficking offenses, not even sparing those in the highest echelons of political office. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Fahie was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and engaging in money laundering after a federal trial exposed his role in a plot to transport Colombian cocaine through the British Virgin Islands to Miami.
The former premier's downfall began with his compromise, concocting a scheme that involved facilitating drug trafficking through BVI's ports in return for millions of dollars, the proceedings of the trial revealed the extent of Fahie's betrayal. His cohorts, including the Managing Director of the BVI Ports Authority Oleanvine Pickering Maynard (O. Maynard), and Maynard's son, Kadeem Stephan Maynard (K. Maynard), were instrumental in maneuvering this illicit venture. The trio was found courting individuals they believed to be affiliates of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel. They spoke of transferring 3,000 kilograms of the narcotic as just an initial maneuver, plotting much more extensive drug movements subsequently.
Yet the wheels of justice turned when Fahie and O. Maynard found themselves apprehended in Miami. The duo was caught in the act of collecting a hefty $700,000 cash advance for their part in the cocaine transportation arrangement. Decked in contingency for such criminally cast aspirations, the convicts now face their own reckoning, with O. Maynard and K. Maynard having pled guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and receiving sentences of 112 and 57 months respectively.
This case, laden with the corruptive weight that seems endemic to drug trafficking, sends shockwaves far beyond the tropical shores of the BVI to the heart of Miami. Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, drove home the notoriety and finality of the judicial findings. The efforts of agencies such as the DEA’s Miami Field Division and the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force against the ominous tide of drug-related and violent crimes, such as the opioid epidemic, can neither be understated nor overlooked.
Reflections of this case, from detailed court documents to the sentencing aftermath, are available on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida and can be perused for the public's edification.
