A Warwick man allegedly imported $60,000 worth of cocaine in plastic bags taped into the back pockets of four pairs of trousers.

Dudley Allen Lightbourne, 43, of Cedar Hill, Warwick, pleaded not guilty to importing cocaine and being in possession of the controlled drug with the intent to supply at the Bermuda International Airport on April 9, 2003.

In Supreme Court yesterday Senior Customs Officer Kenneth Simmons told Crown counsel Graveney Bannister he examined Lightbourne?s bags at the airport?s Customs Hall at 5.30 p.m.

after Lightbourne flew in on a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta, Georgia with two pieces of luggage.

Mr. Simmons said Lightbourne was ?very, very talkative? as he searched his bags.

?I asked him who packed the bag, and he said he did,? Mr. Simmons said.

When the officer picked up a pair of trousers inside a black piece of luggage, he noticed the trousers felt heavy.

?I examined the pants, which contained some sort of foreign object in the back pockets,? he said.

He asked the defendant what was in the pockets and he said he did not know.

Mr. Simmons then took the four pairs of trousers and the defendant into a search room.

Lightbourne was given a personal search but no drugs were found, Mr. Simmons said.

On cross-examination, defence lawyer Larry Scott asked Mr. Simmons if his client appeared nervous as his bags were searched.

However, Mr. Simmons said Lightbourne did not look nervous.

He said Lightbourne did not tell him how long he was in Atlanta, but did say he had been to Jamaica for three or four weeks.

Det. Con. Windol Thorpe took possession of the drugs from Mr. Simmons in the search room, arrested Lightbourne and cautioned him.

At first Lighbourne told Det. Con. Thorpe he bought the jeans from a street-vendor in Montego Bay, Jamaica. But later in an interview room at the Airport Police Station, Lightbourne changed his story, Det. Con. Thorpe said.

?The defendant put his hand on his head,? Det. Con. Thorpe said. ?He said ?If I co-operate with you guys what?s in it for me?? I said to the defendant we are not in the position to give any deals, but it was in his best interest to tell the truth?.

Lightbourne told Police he got the drugs from a man in Jamaica he called ?Shane?.

?I asked the defendant who the drugs were for,? Det. Con. Thorpe said. ?He replied ?This guy from Somerset ? they call him Bigs?. I asked the defendant what he was supposed to do. He said he was supposed to go home and someone would collect them?.

Lightbourne went on to explain that he was approached by a man in Jamaica who gave him the jeans and asked him to bring them to Bermuda.

Later that evening Lightbourne was taken to Hamilton Police Station and the drugs were handed to the Narcotics custodian at Police Headquarters in Prospect, Devonshire.

Government analyst Christine Quigley told the ten-woman, two-man jury she found a total of 563.38 grams of cocaine with a purity between 58 to 70 percent taped into the back pockets of the trousers.

Det. Sgt. Christopher Clarke said the drugs had an estimated street value of $60,000.

?It was not for personal use but was for sale either by the defendant or by another person,? Det. Sgt. Clarke told the court.

The trial resumes before Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves this morning.