Customs officer Heather Hollis described to a jury how she became suspicious of a shipment of posters because the shipper and the consignee were the same.

Her detective work led to the discovery of ammunition in the five boxes in the Long Room on the Hamilton Docks on October 3, 2004. Ms Hollis was testifying during the opening day of the trial of 28-year-old Dion Bassett who denies causing or arranging for the shipment to Bermuda from Florida of ammunition without a licence.

In the dock before Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons, Ms Hollis said she found the ammunition concealed in a number of framed posters imported into Bermuda. In her opening statement, Senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale told the court: ?The boxes contained a number of framed posters and a number of shells/cartridges were found in the posters.?

Ms Hollis told the court that part of her responsibilities was to review Bills of Lading ? forms which show the shipper, importer, types of goods shipped and the weight of the goods.

She noticed that a ?Dion Bassett? was listed as both the shipper and consignee. This, she said, caused her to ?target? the shipment, adding: ?The shipper and the consignee was the same person and the date of purchase and date of shipment was almost a month apart.?

When asked to clarify, she replied: ?Normally we don?t see that the shipment and consignee are the same person and it seemed to be an exceptionally long time between the date the goods were purchased and the date of the shipment. That is not normal either.?

Ms Hollis said she and another Customs officer located the shipment in question and searched one of the boxes.

She said: ?I opened a box which contained two framed posters. One of the posters had a picture of (rapper) Tupac (Shakur) at the top and near the bottom was a display area which contained a black plastic firearm, imitation US currency, a cigar and two bullets.?

She continued: ?The second poster was of (actor) Al Pacino. At the bottom was a display area which contained a black plastic firearm, imitation US currently, a clear plastic twist containing a white substance and two bullets.?

Ms Hollis said she and the other Customs officer returned the posters to the box, sealed it and called Police. Victoria Pearman and Charles Richardson appear on behalf of Bassett.