A man who allegedly imported $302,000-worth of cocaine in his bag failed to pick it up from the luggage belt at the airport and reported it missing instead.

A jury heard yesterday that Edward Shawn Dill's suspicious behaviour attracted the attention of customs officers, and he was arrested. When interviewed about the subsequent discovery of bottles of cocaine in his Nike bag, Dill allegedly told Police: "Somebody is trying to set me up."

Dill denies importing cocaine hydrochloride paste weighing a total of 1167 grams on August 30 last year, concealed in a bottle of body lotion and a bottle of skin lotion.

The drug was discovered in his luggage after Dill, 40, of Sunset Lane, Pembroke, arrived on a flight from New York. He further denies possessing the drug with intent to supply.

Opening the case against him yesterday, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Michael McColm told the jury that Customs and Police officers saw Dill looking at a blue and black Nike bag on the luggage carousel and examining its label. He did not pick it up, and after asking a Customs officer if all the bags had come off the flight, he was directed to the baggage claim desk and reported a bag of the same description as lost.

His behaviour caused him to be arrested on suspicion of drug importation. When the bag was searched, the drug was discovered.

Mr. McColm said Dill told Police in a later interview that he'd received a telephone call before he left for the US requesting him to bring something to Bermuda that he would receive $5,000 for, and that when the bag came through it would have a lock on it.

In a second interview, he told the Police that what he said in the first interview was untrue. However, Mr. McColm told the jury: "The prosecution case is that for an anticipated reward, Mr. Dill agreed to bring drugs into the Island. It was his bag with his name on it and it contained drugs."

Senior customs officer Dawnette Bell, who observed Dill watching the bag on the carousel, examining the tag and approaching the luggage claim desk, said his movements aroused her suspicion and she alerted her colleagues. The bag was taken off the belt and Dill was taken for questioning.

Detective Constable Shannon Swan told the court that he also watched Dill's movements in the luggage hall, and in his opinion he looked nervous. When Det. Con. Swan questioned him about the bag, he initially denied it was his, saying that his had a white Nike tick logo on it.

However, when the detective turned the bag around to show him the tick, he admitted it was his and told the officer that he'd not picked it up because it had a lock that he hadn't put on it. In answer to further questions, Dill told Det. Con. Swan that he'd not received any gifts to bring back to Bermuda and had not had any contact with controlled drugs.

The officer said when he opened the bag in front of him, Dill became "very anxious" and said: "I don't know what's in there. I don't know what it is. I need a lawyer. Somebody's trying to set me up."

Det. Con. Swan explained that he conducted a tape recorded interview with Dill on September 1 last year. Mr. McColm told the jury he will play the tape to them this morning before closing the case for the Crown.