A prominent local footballer who was working as an airport security officer has been jailed for 18 months on a charge of handling almost $50,000 worth of cannabis.Dandy Town player George Dyer was caught with the drugs, which he admitted retrieving from an Air Canada flight from Toronto, on June 13 at LF Wade International Airport.Appearing in Magistrates’ Court the day after he turned 24, Dyer pleaded guilty to handling the drugs. For his cooperation and quick admission of guilt, he was spared a potential sentence of ten years’ imprisonment.According to Crown counsel Susan Mulligan, Dyer was an officer for the Bermuda Security Group, tasked with searching aircraft.Dyer drew the suspicion of a police officer when he boarded flight 943 just after noon, after the passengers disembarked, and locked himself in the rear bathroom.The officer approached Dyer on the tarmac and told him he was being detained for a search.Hearing an object strike the floor as he escorted Dyer through the arrivals hall, the officer found a package wrapped in duct tape. Two similar packages were concealed in the waistband of Dyer’s shorts.They were later found to contain 948.7 grams of cannabis, with an estimated street value of $47,425.The court heard that under interview Dyer admitted bringing the packages off the plane, adding: “I was not the only one involved. I know I’ve done wrong and have to face the consequences. I just want to cooperate.”Ms Mulligan added that, according to a deal made two weeks earlier, Dyer said he’d been paid $2,400 by an individual not before the court to remove the packages, which were stashed in a compartment above the aircraft’s rear exit.He has no prior convictions.Ms Mulligan offered a sentence of three to four years. Duty counsel Susan Moore-Williams also asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner to consider Dyer’s youth, strong family background and remorse.Mr Warner concluded that, while Dyer had breached a position of trust and the quantity of drugs was a substantial one, he was entitled to a sentence of 18 months.Dyer, who comes from Hill Crescent in Pembroke, has been hailed in recent years as one of the Island’s promising footballers.