A British drug mule has been jailed for 14 years after trying to import nearly $3 million of cocaine - the largest haul this year.

Errol Keith Fenty, a naturalised Briton born in Jamaica, picked up the drugs in St. Maarten on a cruise and arrived in St. George's on April 23 on the Horizon where he was busted.

The Supreme Court heard yesterday the 48-year-old father of two had been recruited in England in early April to import the drugs into Bermuda.

He then recruited an accomplice and flew from London to New York where he took the Tampa flight where he boarded the Horizon on April 13.

The cruise took him to Key West, the Bahamas, Catalina and St. Maarten where he picked up the drugs before the trip ended in Puerto Rico.

However he stayed on board for a second cruise which left on April 20 for St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands before coming to Bermuda in April.

Bermuda Customs and Police were alerted after cruise workers became suspicious about the two consecutive trips and the fact Fenty's travelling companion was so much younger than him.

When the Horizon arrived a rummage team searched the couple's empty cabin where a sniffer dog drew attention to a green suitcase.

Fenty was found and admitted having what he thought was cocaine in the case.

Twenty four cocaine packages were found containing 11,638.1 grammes of cocaine with 60 percent purity and a street value of $2.9 million.

Fenty later told Police he had gone to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in St. Maarten and met a contact. He was then sent to a house where he and his companion picked up the drugs, strapped the packages to their bodies and returned to the ship.

He told Police he had bought a snorkel and swimsuits in Britain which would be sticking out of his bag when he disembarked in Bermuda to put off the authorities but alert his contact.

Det. Con. Clive Robinson told the court Fenty had given useful information but only his companion had been arrested as a result.

Prosecutor Anthony Blackman called for Fenty to be jailed for 16 years and said he had acted out of greed in a well orchestrated plan.

However defence lawyer Mark Pettingill said Fenty had acted out of fear after being threatened.

He said: "This is a nasty, nasty business. This is a man who has a wife and a young child."

Fenty, a mechanic, from Nottingham, England with no previous convictions, said importing drugs was not something he did willingly.

He said he had moved from London where he had lived for 30 years after being threatened and then running to the Police.

"They could not do anything and I ended up with 15 stitches in my arm. This time I thought about myself and my family. That's why I did what I did.

"I was under pressure. I didn't do what I do willingly. I didn't care about the money."

In the dock he said he tried to help Police nab his local connection but nothing happened.

Fenty said Police were given a mobile phone number he had and they followed him to a pub in St. George's.

"Someone came to me, the Police saw that person but nothing else happened."

However one source close to the case told The Royal Gazette Fenty refused to reveal the identity of his connections in England, St. Maarten and Bermuda.

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said the quantity of drugs imported would normally attract an 18 to 20 year sentence but discounts had been given because of his guilty plea, his previous good character, his assistance with the Police and the distance from his family.

She sentenced him to 14 years for the importation of drugs which Police sources have said was the largest haul this year. Mr. Blackman told The Royal Gazette it was "the largest for quite a while".

Fenty had earlier pleaded not guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply. That charge will remain on file.

Fenty had been jointly charged with importing cocaine with Dana Marie Francis, 26, of Tottenham, London who has pleaded not guilty. A date for her hearing has yet to be set.