after a Supreme Court jury found her guilty of importing $160,000 worth of cannabis.

She hugged a male friend inside the courtroom lobby before she was put inside a prison van and taken away.

The panel deliberated for more than two hours before returning the unanimous guilty verdict.

Cole buried her face in her hands as the verdict was announced and sobbed quietly. Her superstar mother, reggae singer Judy Mowatt had been present each day in court but was absent yesterday.

Mowatt performed last year at the Culture Shock reggae concert in Somerset.

Cole will be sentenced this morning. Her lawyer, Mr. Richard Hector told The Royal Gazette he would be taking instructions from his client before he considered whether to appeal the conviction.

Yesterday's verdict brought the eight-day trial to a close. Cole, 21, of Hollis Avenue, Queen's, New York, imported seven pounds of cannabis in September last year.

The drugs were concealed in ten plastic packages wrapped in duct tape and fabric softener. They were found under some sheets inside a grey and black suitcase bearing her name.

Cole was arrested at the Belmont Hotel. Inside her handbag officers found receipts for Snuggles fabric softener, a suitcase, and sheets. The receipt showed that the fabric softener and sheet set had been purchased at a K-Mart store in Los Angeles.

They also found two used plane tickets to and from Los Angeles. One of the tickets had her name on it. The other ticket was in a false name, Deborah Ross. In her garment bag they found several seal-a-meal plastic bags that were similar to the plastic bags used to package the drugs.

In an interview, Cole told Police she received the suitcase from a girlfriend who packed it for her and brought it to the Baltimore-Washington International Airport on the morning of September 17, 1994.

Cole said she knew the suitcase contained cannabis and she was not supposed to reclaim it once she arrived at the airport in Bermuda because someone else was to collect it and give her back the sheets.

Midway through the trial, however, Cole recanted this version and said it was a lie that she manufactured to placate Det. Con. Alex Severin who she claimed was abusive and intimidating during the interview.

However, Crown Counsel Mr. Philip Storr argued there were simply too many coincidences that could not be explained away.

In the end the jury returned a unanimous decision to the importation charge.

Cole was immediately remanded in custody. She will be sentenced this morning at 9.30 a.m. by Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground.