Bermuda will spend the next-six-and-a-half years in prison after being arrested by customs officers.

Jaha Akilly Mallory, 58, also known as Cock Saunders, was stopped at Bermuda International Airport after arriving on a flight from London in January. The arrest was made after customs officers received a tip-off from their counterparts in the UK.

In the subsequent trial in July, Mallory was found guilty of importation and possession of a controlled drug.

Throughout the trial, Mallory, who is Rastafarian, admitted to importing the cannabis, which was hidden in several cooking pots packed in a suitcase, but denied any knowledge of the cocaine, which was hidden in the lining of a second suitcase.

The cocaine weighed 1.2 kilograms and had a street value of $168,000 and the cannabis resin weighed 139 grams and was valued at $14,000.

In his defence Mallory claimed the marijuana was "for use as a sacrament among my brethren and sistren''.

And during sentencing procedures yesterday, he insisted he was only "guilty to the attempt of trying to import marijuana''.

"But as far as any cocaine in the suitcase, I don't have any knowledge of those things,'' he added.

"Why did I tell the Police to cut up the suitcases if I knew there was cocaine in them?'' Mallory's lawyer, Mark Pettingill, asked that a low sentence be given because of his client's claim to know nothing of the cocaine.

But prosecutor Patrick Doherty reminded Mrs. Justice Simmons that Mallory had an extensive criminal record concerning his involvement with drugs.

In delivering her judgment Mrs. Justice Simmons said: "You have been found guilty on two counts of importation and two counts of possession of a controlled drug.

"You testified that you are a Rastafarian and that you smoke marijuana as a ritual. But this society takes a very dim view of drugs and your religion is not above the law.'' She was not swayed by Mr. Pettingill's or Mallory's claim that he had no knowledge of the cocaine and continued: "Your importation of cannabis fixes you with the possession of cocaine.

"The harm that drugs can do to this society is so great, that no excuse can absolve it,'' she said.

Mrs. Justice Simmons sentenced Mallory to three years for two counts of importation and six and a half years on two counts of possession.

"I would have given you seven and a half years,'' she said, "but I give you credit for the time you have already spent in prison.'' The sentences are to run concurrently.