The elected head of British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory, was arrested by US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials in Florida, with BVI port official Oleanvine Maynard.
According to a BBC report Premier Andrew Fahie was detained in Miami by US agents posing as cocaine traffickers from a Mexican drug cartel. He is reported to have been attempting to negotiate payment to allow drugs to pass through the British Virgins to America.
The BBC obtained a statement from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who said she was "appalled" by the allegations.
According to the BBC Andrew Fahie has been the subject of an inquiry into allegations of misgovernment and corruption since January last year, .
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the arrest demonstrated the importance of the commission leading the inquiry, whose report she expected to be published soon, the BBC added.
The BVI is a British overseas territory made up of more than 40 islands, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico.
It operates as a parliamentary democracy, with the premier acting as the head of the elected government alongside the governor, John Rankin, who is appointed by the UK government.
Leaks of documents known as the "Panama Papers" and "Paradise Papers" revealed the islands to be a popular tax haven. 'Governance and corruption'
Source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61266526
Jonathan Brind