The trial of five men accused of conspiring to import cannabis heard allegations yesterday that a boat carrying what the prosecutor described as ?the cargo? sneaked into Bermuda undetected because a radar system was broken.

Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney told Supreme Court that evidence would invite the jury to infer that George Leonard Lambert, 53, Gladwyn Sherwyn Simmons, 54, Ricardo Michael Tucker, 31, Tristan La-Van Codrington, 30, and Anthony Stanley Martin, 42, had an agreement together.

He said that in pursuit of this, Simmons went to Florida to purchase a yacht named for $82,000 cash. He then flew Codrington and Tucker to Tampa, Florida, to pilot the yacht back to Bermuda.

Mr. Mahoney said that prior to this, on February 8, 2004, George Lambert had flown to Jamaica. Tucker ? who had been in Jamaica ? left the following day to go to Tampa to meet Simmons and Codrington.

The prosecution case is that the boat left Tampa on or about February 13, but was intercepted off the northern coast of Haiti on February 19 by the US Coast Guard. From there, said Mr. Mahoney, it sailed to the South Caicos, where it refuelled, and left on February 24.

?From the evidence, you will infer that after they left South Caicos there was a rendezvous somewhere off the coast of north Haiti,? said Mr. Mahoney.

He told the jury that Lambert left Jamaica on the 18th and went to Haiti. The Crown?s case, he said, that is that Lambert boarded the vessel in the northern area of Haiti in order to travel on it back to Bermuda. He added that ?the cargo? also boarded the vessel while it was in that region.

The vessel arrived in Bermuda where it was seen in Ely?s Harbour, Somerset, around the morning of March 9 and it was there for a couple of days, said Mr. Mahoney. The vessel had reported at the yacht reporting centre in St George on March 11. It is a requirement that all vessels entering Bermuda go straight to that centre.

?Around that same time the satellite and radar system that would pick up vessels coming in (to) Ely?s Harbour in Somerset was out of commission due to Hurricane Fabian. The boat used that to sneak in undetected at Ely?s Harbour,? he said.

Police boarded the on March 11 when it reported at St George, and found a piece of Duct Tape with cannabis residue on it. Officers also went to the home of Lambert ? located within easy walking distance of Ely?s Harbour ? on March 13, said Mr. Mahoney. There, they found ?unwrappings? and pieces of Duct Tape. A Police dog alerted officers to the presence of cannabis and they also found plastic buckets and an electric saw, both with cannabis residue on them, plus what the prosecutor described as ?a large amount of cannabis sawdust?. He added that pieces of Duct Tape found by the Police at Lambert?s home were ?similar? to that found by the Police on the yacht.

The Crown?s first witness was Gregory Ravenscroft, a special agent with the United States Department of Homelands Security whose job involves investigations in the areas of immigration, drug smuggling and money laundering.

He said that he was working in Customs at Tampa, Florida, on February 5 when he conducted surveillance on the in the marina in St Petersburg, 15 miles west of Tampa. During further monitoring on February 11, he observed three males on the deck, he said. He told the court he observed Simmons arrive, and identified himself to him as a Special Agent. Mr. Ravenscroft is due to continue his evidence this morning.

Lambert, Simmons, Tucker, and Codrington, all of Sandys, 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 on March 13, 2004. He has pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis on March 13 and May 27, 2004, and possessing equipment for preparing a controlled drug on that same date.

The case continues.