Saturday, November 9, 2024

A HEZBOLLAH COCAINE TRAFFICKING OPERATION IN THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS WAS EXPOSED IN THE ANDREW FAHIE CASE, BUT NO CHARGES EVER BROUGHT; WHY?


While the jury verdict, entered in Federal Court in Florida for cocaine trafficking and money laundering, against the former premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), ANDREW FAHIE, received extensive media coverage, both in the United States and in the Caribbean, the origins of the DEA sting case were pointedly ignored, when it came to charging all the co-conspirators identified in the court file. The introduction was made by individuals identified in the court file as Lebanese Hezbollah operatives. Those agents, apparently engaged in drug trafficking for terrorist financing in Tortola, and who stated that they had connections in South Florida and the Middle East, set up the initial meeting with an individual who later pled guilty to being Andrew Fahie's co-defendant, KADEEM MAYNARD, who then brought the BVI Premier in. It is curious indeed to see how quickly the Hezbollah connection was ignored in the case. I don't buy the gratuitous remark questioning the fact that the Lebanese were Hezbollah. How did they have established connections to the BVI cocaine trafficking crew in Tortola?

Court watchers monitoring the Fahie case have long wondered why the Premier never chose to cooperate with American law enforcement, since the evidence against him was extremely strong, including video and audio recordings, and first-hand testimony, especially when he first dropped hints that he had incriminating information involving a number of senior East Caribbean government officials. Did he decline to become a cooperating individual because of his concerns for his safety, due to the fact that he might eventually be called upon to testify against Hezbollah, as part of a Plea Agreement? 

Why weren't those Hezbollah traffickers named as co-defendants for making the initial introductions to corrupt BVI officials? And if Hezbollah was utilizing the BVI to store and transport cocaine destined for the United States, why wasn't this network taken down, all drugs located seized, and arrests made? In fact, when Fahie's attorney objected to the mere reference to Hezbollah in the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, the Government allowed it to be removed. 

We must conclude that US and possibly also UK law enforcement were engaged in a major joint investigation into the use of the BVI by Hezbollah, and chose at that point not to expose the size and scope of the case, hoping to snare  high-level targets, but if that is the case, Fahie was arrested in April 2022, and two and one-half years later, there have been no news of additional major arrests. During this period of time, how much cocaine have Hezbollah agents moved through the BVI, sending the proceeds of subsequent sales back to the Middle East?  

We have a lot of questions, regarding the mention of a South Florida area of operation for Hezbollah, the logical terminus for the drugs, as well as a convenient venue to launder and transfer the illicit profits for use by a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. Did a law enforcement agency drop the ball, or are they playing such a long game that terrorist financing itself has taken a back seat to the passive gathering of intelligence?


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