The trial of five men accused of conspiring to import cannabis has heard how a US special agent searched the yacht allegedly used in the conspiracy while it was in Florida.

The agent told how one defendant, Gladwyn Sherwyn Simmons, said he was sent to the US to buy the yacht for $82,000 cash on behalf of Kim Tucker, a business associate in Bermuda.

It is the crown?s case that George Leonard Lambert, 53, Simmons, 54, Ricardo Michael Tucker, 31, Tristan La-Van Codrington, 30, and Anthony Stanley Martin, 42, had an agreement together to bring drugs to Bermuda.

Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney has previously told Supreme Court that in pursuit of this, Simmons went to Florida to purchase the yacht named He then flew Codrington and Tucker to Tampa, Florida, to pilot it back to Bermuda.

It is alleged that left Tampa around February 13, 2004. It stopped to refuel in South Caicos, and sometime after it left on February 24, 2004, it picked up Lambert and what Mr. Mahoney described as ?the cargo? somewhere in the northern area of Haiti.

The crown further alleges that subsequently ?sneaked? into Bermuda, taking advantage of a satellite/radar system being out of service due to Hurricane Fabian.

The court has heard that when Police boarded the yacht in St George on March 11, they found a piece of Duct Tape with cannabis residue on it. Police who attended Lambert?s home on March found pieces of Duct Tape which Mr. Mahoney described as ?similar? to that found on the yacht. They also found plastic buckets and an electric saw with cannabis residue on them and a large amount of ?cannabis sawdust.?

Gregory Ravenscroft, whose job with Homeland Security involves investigating drug smuggling, told Supreme Court on Wednesday how he conducted surveillance on the in St. Petersburg, Florida, and identified himself to Simmons on February 11, 2004. Continuing his testimony yesterday, Mr. Ravenscroft said he boarded the vessel with Simmons and interviewed him about the purchase of the boat.

?He told me that he was sent here by a business associate in Bermuda named Kim Tucker, (and) that Mr. Tucker had found the boat on the internet. He wanted to purchase it and return it to Bermuda so that he could charter it out,? said the special agent. ?He told me that he was told by Mr. Tucker that someone would contact him when they arrived in St. Petersburg, with the funds to purchase the boat but he didn?t know who.?

Mr. Ravenscroft continued by telling how Simmons spoke of meeting a black man named ?Sam? near a visitor attraction called ?Splendid China? on the interstate in Orlando.

He claimed that Sam gave him $82,000 US currency in a white plastic bag to purchase the boat from Bill Browning Yacht Sales in St. Petersburg. Simmons, said Mr. Ravenscroft, spoke of having brought Codrington and Tucker over to serve as crew and a mechanic, Bernard Richards, to inspect the boat and sail it back.

?I then searched the boat. I didn?t find anything,? said Mr. Ravenscroft, adding that he had come across $5,000 US currency in a bag from which Simmons had earlier removed his passport.

Simmons, he said, reported having a problem with the GPS (Global Positioning System) on the boat and that besides him, Tucker, Codrington and Mr. Richards, Tucker?s wife and a baby were also present.

Mr. Ravenscroft is set to continue his evidence today after counsel have perused paperwork related to the case. He was followed onto the witness stand by Beverley Hall, manager of a marine retail store in St Petersburg. She was quizzed about purchases made at the store on the morning of February 6, including a GPS system.

Lambert, Simmons, Tucker, and Codrington, all of Sandys Parish and Martin, of Jamaica, all deny conspiring together with others to import cannabis between February 1, 2004 and March 11, 2004.

Lambert denies separate charges of possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing equipment for the preparation of a controlled drug. He has pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and possessing equipment for preparing a controlled drug.

The case continues.