A former national football player has been charged in New York with conspiracy to distribute more than $3 million worth of cannabis.

Dennis Zuill, 31, who also played for the Bermuda Hogges, was initially arrested in the Atlanta, Georgia area on September 21.

More than a tonne of cannabis was allegedly involved in the plot if sold here it could fetch as much as $11m, nearly four times its value in the US.

It is alleged that Zuill's participation in the alleged conspiracy goes back to 2006, with persons known and unknown to the New York court system.

In addition to playing for the national squad and the Hogges, Zuill was the skipper for Dandy Town and played cricket for Young Men's Social Club.

Zuill was arraigned in New York on October 8 and charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and two counts of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He was remanded in custody to appear before Judge Paul A. Crotty on October 20.

Court documents allege between 2006 and August 2009, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, Zuill and others "knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate and agree to violate the narcotics laws of the US".

According to the indictment, Zuill and others distributed and possessed 1,000 kilograms or 2,200 pounds of cannabis.

The street value of cannabis in New York is around $1,500 a pound.

The same amount can sell for anywhere between $5,000 and $8,000 in Bermuda.

It is also alleged that Zuill purchased 20 pounds of marijuana in April from a co-conspirator in the Bronx.

The indictment also alleged the father-of-two, with others, "did distribute and possess with intent to distribute" five kilograms of cocaine.

It was claimed in the documents that Zuill was called on June 25 and offered 50 kilograms of cocaine by a co-conspirator. The co-conspirator, who was not named, was not charged with the offences. Zuill is further charged with possessing with intent to distribute, five kilograms of cocaine from June to August 2009.

He appeared in Atlanta's Georgia Northern Federal District Court on September 22, where he was formally charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and was remanded in custody.

The case was transferred to the Southern District Court of New York on September 25. As recently reported in a separate case, two Bermudians who were arrested at Philadelphia International Airport are facing a string of charges over an alleged Jamaica to Bermuda drug smuggling ring.

Shakai Darrell, 25, and Sanchez Clayton Smith, 20, are both alleged to have swallowed numerous pellets of hashish. Law enforcement officials said their arrests last month "threw a wrench into a Jamaica-to-Bermuda hashish smuggling route".

Both were en route to Bermuda from Montego Bay, Jamaica, when they were picked up. The men are said to have ingested more than 1.5 lbs of hash between them, stored in 112 plastic pellets. And last week, this newspaper reported the arrests of Jie Jovonne Stovell, 26, Jermaine Raheim Lewis Simmons, 27, and Kavon Chancey Hart, 21, in Trenton, Georgia, 99 miles outside Atlanta.

The trio was arrested on September 23 for two counts of illegal possession of a controlled substance and trafficking.