A 48-year-old American man imprisoned yesterday for eight years after he pleaded guilty to the importation of cannabis and cocaine worth almost $80,000.

Edward Laroche Howe was also charged with possession of the drugs with intent to supply but he was not sentenced on these although they will remain on his file. He was represented by lawyer Kim Wilson.

Supreme Court -- which was presided over by Chief Justice Austin Ward -- heard that Howe arrived from New York on December 26 of last year at about 7.45 p.m.

He was questioned by a Customs officer who grew suspicious and then informed him he would be searched.

The soles of Howe's shoes were noticed to be irregular and were X-rayed by a Customs Officer who then summoned a Police narcotics officer. The sole of one of the shoes was cut open to reveal plant material.

Howe denied knowledge of the discovery and was arrested. Later he admitted that he met a man in America -- whom he did not name -- and agreed to import the illegal drugs to the Island for him.

He told Police that he went to a shoemaker in Mount Vernon, New York who made the pair of shoes which the drugs went in.

The other man gave him a second pair of shoes, which also contained drugs, an airline ticket to Bermuda and US$600 in spending money. He was told that he would be met in Bermuda and would be given cash when he handed over the shoes.

Howe was to return to New York and give the money to the other man who would then pay him.

Meanwhile the shoes' soles were cut open and found to contain four packages wrapped in plastic and secured with brown tape.

These were opened and two were found to contain plant material while the other two contained white powder.

The Government analyst examined the packages' contents and discovered the white powder was 245 grams of cocaine with a purity of 77 percent while the plant material was 103 grams of cannabis.

Howe told Police: "When they found the drugs I lied at first, but I finally realised and told the truth. I feel bad. If I had a gun I would kill myself.'' He added that he did not know there was cocaine in the shoes and had only smuggled the cannabis because he was in a desperate situation and needed the money.

Crown Counsel Charlene Scott said cocaine was sold on Bermudian streets in half gram wraps known as halves which contained about .32 grams of cocaine each and were sold for $125.

The cocaine Howe imported would have formed 589 halves with an estimated street value of $73,600, she continued, while the marijuana would either have been sold in ounces or half gram amounts with street values of $500 and $25 respectively.

Ms Scott said the marijuana would have netted some $1,800 if sold in ounces and about $5,150 if sold by the half gram. this made the total estimated street value of the seized drugs worth approximately 478,750.