centred in Bermuda after an undercover operation to track four cruise ships.

Thirteen Jamaicans -- mostly workers on the Zenith , Horizon , Norwegian Crown and Norwegian Majesty -- are already in Police cells in New York.

Now Bermudian suspects are being targeted in Operation Bermuda Triangle, with $250,000 worth of cocaine already seized.

The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration uncovered the plot to flood the Island with millions of dollars worth of cocaine, marijuana and hashish after tapping phones and conducting surveillance missions in New York and Bermuda.

Bermuda Customs and Police posed undercover as drug users to catch the international smuggling gang.

It emerged last night that drugbusters may have cut the flow of between 25 and 50 percent of Bermuda's drugs supply.

They have already seized six pounds of cocaine, four pounds of hashish, nine pounds of marijuana and small quantities of heroin from cruise ship workers boarding in New York.

The Bermuda street value of the cocaine is around $250,000 -- and could rake in even more once it has been processed into crack.

Officials say the marijuana, while cheap in New York, could fetch around $72,000 in Bermuda.

And Collector of Customs Bill Le Drew said the operation had netted "two or three major seizures'' in Bermuda.

He added: "This is a significant investigation and the recent arrests are heartening. This case in particular is an example of the relationship that Customs and the Bermuda Police have with the American authorities.

"We recognise the risks that are posed by the cruise ships and invariably we are going to get a small minority of crew trying to profit from drug smuggling.'' DEA spokeswoman Diane Ingalls said drug runners had taken the narcotics to New York City, to be transferred onto the ships.

Undercover detectives would watch their prime suspects returning from Bermuda days after the ships left Manhattan -- armed with huge stashes of cash.

The drugs trade was so elaborate that smugglers even had codenames like Fidel, 007, Ratty and Puny.

Ms Ingalls said eight of the 13 accused worked on the cruise ships. The other five were based in both New York and Bermuda, co-ordinating drop-offs or money transfers.

Alleged mastermind Delroy Andrews, a 43-year-old living in Brooklyn, is already behind bars awaiting trial.

Zenith workers Rayon Blagrove, 26, and Henry Thompson, 35, were locked up after coming off the ship when she docked in New York on Saturday.

All defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics -- and three more suspects are still being sought.

DEA cracks cruise ship drugs ring Ms Ingalls said: "We cannot discuss the prospect of pending arrests in Bermuda.

"But the Bermudian authorities have been working jointly with us in the investigation. The drugs were purchased in New York and then shipped down to Bermuda where they were being distributed by additional individuals.'' Operation Bermuda Triangle also involved the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service and the US Internal Revenue Service.

Ms Ingalls said authorities had also been helped by the Norwegian and Celebrity cruise lines.

Henry Hayward, president of Meyer Agencies which handles the ships, said: "The problem is that the ships are here for three-and-a-half days and it's very easy for the crew to establish links here.

"The money on offer for them is huge and hence the crew are tempted, There's big money in it.

"We would always help with an investigation like this but it can be a needle in a haystack. Each ship has 600 or 700 crew on board.'' A spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service said Island officers had tracked cruise ship drugs smugglers for at least eight years -- but the DEA had only become involved since 1996.