The many trials and tribulations of drug running in the Caribbean were laid before a Supreme Court jury yesterday as the trial of Kirk Thomas Roberts and Alphonso Cyril Holder continued.

According to testimony of star witness, Heinz Golembeck - the German sailboat owner who brought the marijuana to Bermuda for an alleged late night exchange with Roberts - over the course of the drug smugglers' attempts to find cannabis to illegally import they were ripped off for roughly $70,000 in Antigua, sent on the trail of the wrong drug in Nevis and missed out on a deal off Haiti when their supplier was picked up by the Coast Guard.

Eventually, however, they found a man who could fill the marijuana order in St. Vincent - Benji the Roots Man.

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

Testifying yesterday, Golembeck said he was introduced to Roberts in March 2000 at his Somerset home.

A former German Navy man, Golembeck had been sailing around the Caribbean on his boat Never Come Back since 1997.

Under questioning from Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo, Golembeck said he had already made a number of drug runs by the time he met Roberts, including one to Bermuda.

“Kirk was interested in doing a job with me to bring drugs to Bermuda,” Golembeck said.

The pair made an agreement that Roberts would arrange a drug deal in the Caribbean and Golembeck would pick up the drugs and bring them to Bermuda on Never Come Back.

Golembeck told the court he was to be paid $1,000 for each pound of marijuana he smuggled to the Island and Roberts wanted between 200 and 300 pounds. Roberts gave Golembeck $36,000 for expenses and to pay for the drugs.

Golembeck and another Bermudian named Winston Robinson sailed for Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, the court heard, with the aim of making their way to Antigua where Roberts had set up a deal with two men.

In Tortola, Golembeck and Roberts were to pick up the satellite telephone they would use to contact Roberts throughout their months at sea.

But the phone was delayed and Golembeck and Robinson flew to Antigua and met with two men while waiting for it.

“We had a meeting in a hotel with the Antiguans,” Golembeck said. “I don't remember their names. I passed them the left over money I had (from the $36,000). Winston was carrying another $36,000 and he gave it to those guys as well.

“We talked over out meeting point and how we were going to do it.

“They told us they had ready 200 pounds of marijuana and it wouldn't be a problem to deliver it offshore.”

Golembeck and Robinson returned to Tortola but when they sailed back to Antigua, they could find no trace of the men, he said.

The pair proceeded to Nevis where, Golembeck said, Roberts had made a new deal and provided them with names. But in Nevis it turned out the suppliers had cocaine rather than cannabis.

“Kirk didn't want coke because he's dealing only with marijuana,” Golembeck said.

“We then went to Dominican Republic. Kirk told us he'd hooked up another deal coming from Jamaica and we could meet off shore of Dominican Republic.

“But the boat we were supposed to meet got caught by the Coast Guard off Haiti.”

“By then you weren't having any luck,” Mr. Tokunbo quipped. “No sir,” Golembeck replied.

But Roberts set up yet another deal in St. Vincent and the Never Come Back sailed again.

“Kirk gave us a phone number of somebody in St. Vincent,” Golembeck said. “The name was ‘Benji the Roots Man'. We called him up and he said ‘catch a cab and come to my place, everybody knows where I live just tell the cab Benji the Roots Man's house'.”

Golembeck said Benji lived in a large house and seemed to have no fear of the Police.

“It was my impression he felt pretty safe in his place,” Golembeck said. “He had the marijuana right next to him and if Police passed (the house), he wasn't worried.”

But Benji told Golembeck he did not know Roberts and wanted to send one of his men - Black Man (aka Alphonso Holder) - on the sailboat to Bermuda.

He also told Golembeck he would only provide 100 pounds of marijuana for Roberts and would send another 100 pounds to another connection in Bermuda.

Golembeck agreed to these terms and the exchange was made but returning to Bermuda was again delayed when a cable on Never Come Back's mast snapped.

He said Benji paid for the repairs and also gave he and Robinson expense money although the pair had occasionally been receiving money from Roberts by Western Union.

In early December 2000, Never Come Back came back to the Bermuda

As the court heard earlier this week, the first deep sea meeting with Sea Scorpion III - the boat Roberts hired for the drug swap offshore - was missed due to rough weather and the exchange was finally made on December 18, 2000 at Challenger Banks.

Golembeck said Roberts seemed surprised when Black Man (Holder) jumped on the boat with him along with the duffel bag of marijuana.

He told the court Roberts asked “what are you doing” and Black Man replied “I'm staying in Bermuda to protect you.”

Roberts gave Golembeck and Robinson an envelope with $500 in it and took an envelope from Golembeck.

Two days later he found out Roberts had been arrested.

“Kirk told me he got arrested that night,” Golembeck said. “He said ‘you don't have to worry everything is safe. You have to stay calm for a little bit'.”

Golembeck told the jury he received less than $20,000 over the next few months from Roberts rather than the hundreds of thousands he'd been expecting.

He said he wanted to change his life because he was getting married and decided to tell the Police about his deal with Roberts.

He contacted US Drug Enforcement Agents (DEA) while in Nassau, Bahamas who told him he needed to contact Bermuda Police, and shortly after local officers flew to Nassau to interview him.

Although, Golembeck eventually received an immunity deal from local authorities, he said yesterday when he first told Bermuda Police his story he did not have one but took the risk (of prosecution) anyway.

The trial continues on Monday before Supreme Court Justice Norma Wade Miller.