Police a Jamaican drug dealer set him up, a Supreme Court jury heard yesterday.

Jaha Akilly Mallory, of Elliott Street, Pembroke, denied importing and possessing 1.2 kilograms of cocaine with intent to supply but pleaded guilty to the importation, possession and intended supply of 139 grams of cannabis.

The 47-year-old was stopped at Bermuda International Airport on January 15 after he arrived on the British Airways flight from London.

Narcotics police and Customs officers found several packages of drugs hidden in the supports of his two suitcases.

Yesterday Det. Con. Robert Cardwell said Mallory told him he had never seen the packages and claimed he was set-up.

"He said a man called Ron Lynn prepared the suitcases in Jamaica and told him to bring some cannabis to Bermuda, where he would pick it up,'' Det. Con.

Cardwell testified.

"Mallory told me he didn't know anything about the cocaine.'' The officer added that Mallory told him he thought the cannabis was stashed in hidden compartments in the cooking pots he had in the suitcases.

But investigations revealed there were no drugs in them.

He added that inquiries into whether Mr. Lynn existed met with no success.

Det. Con Cardwell said he took Mallory aside at the airport "as a result of information received'' from Customs officers in the United Kingdom who suspected drugs were in his luggage.

And he told the jury how Mallory acted nervously when Customs officers searched the bags.

"He was breathing heavily and shaking. I asked him why he was so nervous, but he said: `I'm not nervous'.'' In cross-examination, Mallory's attorney Mark Pettingill highlighted the fact that his client was "straight up'' with Police right from the start.

And he implied that the defendant was simply a drugs courier who had no knowledge of exactly what he was carrying in his bags.