Police officers clad like ninjas swarmed a powerboat just hours after its owner had dropped off Kirk Thomas Roberts and Alphonso Cyril Holder following a deep sea drug swap, the jury heard yesterday in the pair's Supreme Court conspiracy trial.

Roberts, 40, of Sandys, and Holder, 37, of St. Vincent, deny that they conspired with others not before the court to import marijuana into Bermuda in December 2000.

On Wednesday, prosecution witness Stephen Cabral Sr. told the court that Roberts offered him $50,000 to take him, by boat, off Bermuda to rendezvous with a passing sailboat.

He did so and an exchange was made with Roberts taking fuel and groceries to the sailboat and retrieving a duffel bag, a suitcase and Holder and returning with them to Bermuda.

Under cross examination by Roberts' defence lawyer Mark Pettingill yesterday, Mr. Cabral described the shock of waking to find his boat filled with police officers after he dozed off following a bit of fishing.

"I was awakened at about 5 a.m.," Mr. Cabral said. "I was pulled out of my bunk where I was sleeping."

"I saw three Police Officers dressed up like ninjas with guns.The had masks on and black uniforms."

Mr. Cabral said the dozen odd officers who swarmed his boat were carrying both hands guns and machine guns.

He was thrown to the deck and handcuffed.

Police drove his boat, Sea Scorpion III, to a dock in Southampton where Customs officials and Marine Police with sniffer dogs were waiting, Mr. Cabral said.

"The proceeded to strip my boat."

Nothing was found on the boat, however, Mr. Cabral was taken into Police custody and held for three days.

He eventually learned from his lawyer, Kim Wilson, that he was being offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for cooperating with Police.

"Was it traumatic for you," Mr. Pettingill asked, of awakening to armed men swathed in black. "Yes," Mr. Cabral replied.

Mr. Pettingill questioned Mr. Cabral extensively on the conversations he had with Police officers - outside from his official statements - while he was jailed.

Mr. Cabral said the first time he heard anything about drugs related to his "favour" for Roberts, was from Police after his arrest.

"Did they tell you what they thought was on the boat," Mr. Pettingill asked.

"They knew more about it than I did," replied Mr. Cabral.

Under additional questioning, he said he thought he would lose everything as a result of the late night run to meet the sailboat on December 18 and that he was particularly worried about his son Stephen Jr.

"You were in a position to lose a lot," Mr. Pettingill said. "Son, boat, business."

"Everything," Mr. Cabral replied.

"You never had or made an agreement with Kirk Roberts to go out and pick up a bunch of weed did you," Mr. Pettingill asked.

"No," Mr. Cabral replied.

He added: "They (police) said to me it was obvious I knew what he was doing."

Holder's defence lawyer Patrick Doherty established that Mr. Cabral only knows his client's name as a result of reports in the newspaper and through the court proceedings.

On the night of the alleged drug run, Holder hopped aboard Mr. Cabral's boat following the exchange with the sailboat but Mr. Cabral only knew that he was a black man who said he was from St. Vincent.

"You don't know where that black fella came from," asked Mr. Doherty.

"He obviously came off the sailboat," Mr. Cabral responded.

Both Mr. Doherty and Mr. Pettingill asked Mr. Cabral if Police had "roughed him up" when the swarmed his boat.

But Mr. Cabral denied this. "They gripped me by the back of my shirt and the seat of my pants," he said.

"The held me in the air, lifted me up, and sort of dropped me down on my chest."

In opening his case earlier this week, Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo told the jury of ten women and two men that they would heard from three key witnesses who had been accomplices of Roberts and Holder but were offered immunity to testify including Mr. Cabral.

The pair are accused of bringing between 200 and 300 pounds of cannabis to the Island.

The trial continues today before Supreme Court Justice Norma Wade Miller.