operated in the Island for a decade before being cracked, a senior narcotics officer claimed yesterday.

Det. Sgt. Alex Arnfield told the Supreme Court the officials' link with the vast drug ring had aroused the interest of American authorities, including the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

He further alleged that the local lawyer who first represented self-confessed drug courier Angela Trapasso "was involved in the conspiracy''. That was the reason she had to hire another lawyer, he said.

The detective was testifying in the trial of alleged drug smuggler Larry Ebbin.

He made the allegations while being asked by defence lawyer Mr. Archie Warner whether any deal had been made with Trapasso to get her to testify.

Det. Sgt. Arnfield said his meetings at Casemates with drugs prisoners Dexter Dillas and Antonio Miranda were part of "an ongoing investigation involving a great number of people''.

He denied he had met with the men to offer them deals to induce them to testify against Ebbin.

But Mr. Warner suggested, "When you met Dillas and Miranda at Casemates you went not only to ask them to give evidence in this trial, but also to offer them a deal.'' Det. Sgt. Arnfield said he had asked Miranda only for his assistance in the case. Dillas had refused to cooperate at all, threatening "to go to the newspapers and talk to a politician''.

"He did not want to talk to me or even sit down,'' the detective said. Mr.

Warner questioned Det. Sgt. Arnfield about a 43-page statement Trapasso gave to Police several months after her May, 1990 arrest on board a cruise ship.

The lawyer pointed out it gave a very detailed account of her drug runs to the Island starting in December of 1989.

Det. Sgt. Arnfield said Trapasso had a "great memory'' and had impressed US authorities who were present taking notes.

"They (New Jersey State Police and district attorneys plus members of the DEA) were interested in the conspiracy aspect as far as a murder in the US was concerned, the movement of drugs around the US and into Canada from the Bahamas -- and the aspect of officials in Bermuda being involved,'' he told jurors.

"There were all sorts of aspects and Angela Trapasso was stuck in the middle and very valuable to the US authorities.'' Mr. Warner suggested Trapasso was so valuable that she was offered a deal to testify.

The lawyer claimed US authorities had agreed to write to the Attorney General's chambers telling them how helpful Trapasso had been to their investigations.

"There was a possibility she would be granted immunity in the US on release from prison. But she was offered no deal,'' Det. Sgt. Arnfield said, adding he could not recall any letter.

He said it was Trapasso who had approached Police to tell them she wanted to cooperate.

She had just found out her boyfriend Harry Owens and best friend Deborah Owens had been murdered and was very frightened, he said.

Mr. Warner then produced and read a letter from US authorities telling the Attorney General of the level of cooperation which Trapasso gave and how their investigations would have been "greatly delayed'' had it not been for her.

He also read out the statement of facts given at Trapasso's sentencing. The statement had "significantly reduced'' Trapasso's role in the conspiracy, he claimed.

He suggested, "Showing a lesser involvement of Trapasso in the drug ring was part of a deal to get her a lesser sentence.'' But Det. Sgt. Arnfield again denied any deal was made with Trapasso.

Trapasso, the crown's second witness, had testified she brought some eight kilos of cocaine to Bermuda via commercial airplane. She said she partied with Ebbin and his roommate Dillas, but never delivered any cocaine to them.

She claimed she delivered the shipments to Julio Junkie, Victor Alongi and Antonio Miranda -- the Cubans' "man in Bermuda'' who has testified he delivered half of 11 kilos of cocaine directly to Ebbin.

Ebbin, 35, has denied importing cocaine between May 11 and May 20 of 1990 and conspiring to import the drug between October, 1988 and May 17, 1990 with others not before the court.

He was arrested on May 18, 1990, during a drug raid on the Southampton apartment he shared with Dillas.

Det. Con. Rudolph Richardson, who began testifying in the late afternoon, said the only thing Ebbin said to Police after his arrest was, "Can I change my pants.''