Bail has been denied to three Bermudians awaiting trial for possessing $13 million worth of marijuana off of Puerto Rico.Earlier this month Shawn Antoine Simmons, Antoine Wenfield Eugene Russel and Raymont Steven Bernard Francis were charged with possessing 703 pounds of the drug on December 12 on their 34ft sailboat Phantasea, which was intercepted in the Caribbean region.On January 10 US Magistrate Judge Bruce McGiven declined to give the men bail.He stated there was clear and convincing evidence that they should be incarcerated while awaiting their trial in Puerto Rico.He said bail could not be granted because of the “nature of charged offence, no ties to the community and the use of controlled substances”.A status hearing is scheduled to take place on February 1.The trio were arrested when representatives from the US Coast Guard and the US Drug Enforcement Agency boarded their boat in international waters on December 12 after obtaining permission from Governor Sir Richard Gozney.DEA agent Roxana Pulido said they found 16 bales of marijuana in plain viewShe said: “While performing the Narcotics Identification Kit field test Shawn Antoine Simmons and Antoine Wenfield Eugene Russel asked if ‘it was good weed'.”The men were then placed in custody and taken to Puerto Rico. They are now being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.