Drug smugglers who tried to import $40-million worth of cannabis to Bermuda were caught red-handed with what Police have described as "the largest seizure in recent history".

Norman O'Donnell Rayner, a Bermudian from Pembroke, was aboard a yacht named Dazzler with its US owner when it was intercepted by the US Coast Guard off the Bahamas on January 2. A search of the yacht uncovered cannabis weighing around a ton, which was picked up in Jamaica and destined for the streets of Bermuda according to law enforcers.

The Royal Gazette reported on Friday how Rayner, 34, was arrested, along with the yacht's American owner, Edward Costin Kenny, 54. The pair pleaded guilty in a Miami district court on August 1 to conspiring to transport narcotics and possessing narcotics with intent to distribute them. Rayner was jailed for seven years and Kenny for six.

Further information about the circumstances of the huge bust have now emerged through paperwork released by the Miami FBI, which headed the investigation in collaboration with Bermuda Police and Customs.

Special Agent Thomas J. Clark said in an affidavit that the US Coast Guard (USCG) cutter Venturous sighted Dazzler in international waters around 20 nautical miles southwest of Matthewtown, Great Inagua in the Bahamas.

The Venturous approached the 30-foot sailing vessel and sent a small team over on a boat to board and conduct a safety inspection. They found 215 packages containing marijuana.

"The master, Kenny, was asked by the USCG boarding team what was the last port of call visited by the Dazzler, Kenny replied Fort Lauderdale.

"Upon inspection of Kenny's passport, the USCG boarding team states that the passport indicated that Kenny's last port of call was Jamaica," reported Special Agent Clark.

The yacht, its crew and the drugs were towed back to the USCG station in Miami Beach, Florida. Lieutenant M. Bruno of the Venturous reported that the Dazzler had been taking on water during its voyage, a factor which, along with sea conditions, prevented a full count of the drugs on board.

USCG officials eventually recorded a total of 226 packages of cannabis. According to a Bermuda Police spokesman, the ensuing investigation revealed that the drugs were loaded onto the yacht in Jamaica.

It was headed to Bermuda where the drugs were to be offloaded. He described it as "certainly the largest seizure in recent history ."

The news comes just weeks after Dennis Pamplin — estranged husband of Opposition MP Pat Gordon-Pamplin — was arrested with another man in the US in a separate investigation involving a massive cannabis haul.

Pamplin and co-accused Brian Henry are alleged to have plotted to ship $15-million worth of the drug to Bermuda.

The pair were arrested at a warehouse in Orange, New Jersey, on July 15 after a sting by law enforcement officials resulted in a sniffer dog discovering 700 pounds of marijuana hidden inside concrete pillars there.

Officials also seized scales, pressing machines and vacuum sealing materials which they allege was consistent with packaging the drugs, according to court documents. The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) said the raid was the culmination of a year-long operation involving Bermuda Police. Both men were subsequently charged with conspiring to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana — with an estimated street value in Bermuda of $15 million — and remanded into custody.

In comments on July 24 to the Bermuda Sun newspaper, Special Agent Douglas Collier of the DEA in Newark said the arrests sparked a hunt for the Bermuda half of what is believed to be a major drug-running ring.

He reportedly told the newspaper his agency was working closely with detectives here to secure more arrests. Special Agent Collier has declined requests from this newspaper for an update on the case, and Bermuda Police Service has not responded.

However, according to a statement issued on August 6 by the US State Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, no further arrests have been made. A preliminary court hearing is slated for August 15.