Three men have been jailed for 33 years between them for their roles in a drug importation plot spanning ten years.Supreme Court heard former aircraft mechanic Lorenzo Lottimore, who was sentenced to 15 years, was the main contact in Bermuda.Former baggage handler David Carroll, who got six years, helped arrange the drug deliveries. Craig Hatherley, who was not an airport worker, travelled to New York to deliver drugs and got 12 years for his role.During a trial earlier this year, Supreme Court heard how a Philadelphia Airport baggage handler named Brian Wade was caught hiding a package of cannabis on an aircraft destined for Bermuda in October 2010.He was arrested, and told the authorities he had been smuggling drugs to the Island for ten years. He led investigators to Carroll, 32, of Hamilton Parish, who was identified by his phone records as having been involved in the smuggling.The authorities tracked Carroll in December 2010 as he flew to the US to meet Wade at a hotel in Philadelphia and told him how he was arranging for cannabis to be delivered to US addresses. The two of them agreed for the cannabis to be imported to Bermuda.The authorities intercepted one package of cannabis in the United States, worth $95,000, which was part of the plot. Carroll pleaded guilty prior to the trial of two counts of conspiring to import drugs to Bermuda.Lottimore, 33, of Warwick, and Hatherley, 27, of Paget, maintained their innocence and went on trial at Supreme Court earlier this year.The jury heard how, after Wade was caught in Philadelphia, he helped US Homeland Security by recording several phone conversations with Lottimore about plans to import drugs to Bermuda.Hatherley travelled to New York in April 2010 to hand $775,000 worth of heroin to an associate of Wade, who was actually an undercover officer.During the brief meeting, which was recorded by a surveillance camera, Hatherley gave the officer the heroin in a package wrapped in a towel.Wade arranged to place the drugs on a Bermuda-bound plane but investigators replaced them with a dummy package.That was collected by Loren Marshall — an airport baggage handler who is not charged in the case — who delivered it to Carroll and Lottimore at Burchall’s Cove in Hamilton Parish.Police were watching the meeting and swooped to arrest the men.Carroll tried to flee but dropped two bundles of cash totalling $10,000 on the ground as he did so. Lottimore also tried to flee, but was caught with the drugs. Hatherley was arrested at his home the next day.A search of Lottimore’s home revealed documentation from a Western Union money transfer used to pay Wade, along with papers with phone numbers related to the drug plot. He had previously been arrested for breaking into a plane at LF Wade International Airport in Bermuda on September 28, 2010, which caused a major security scare.He claimed he was trying to look at the plane’s instrument panel. He was sentenced to a one year probation order and $1,200 fine.All three defendants were given the opportunity to address Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons before she sentenced them yesterday. Carroll said: “I want to acknowledge that I made a huge mistake.” He said he hoped society could forgive him, as his family has.The judge noted how, in a pre-sentence report, Carroll admitted he got involved in the plot for “personal financial benefit”. She ordered the $10,000 he dropped at the scene of his arrest to be forfeited to the court. Credit for his early guilty plea was reflected in him getting a shorter sentence than the others.Lottimore declined to participate in a pre-sentence report or to to address the court. His lawyer, Victoria Pearman, said he maintains his innocence and has launched an appeal.Hatherley said: “We are all human and make mistakes. I was asked to hand off that package. I take responsibility for that. Maybe I should have been a little more careful and checked the package to make sure it weren’t nothing it wasn’t supposed to be.”As she imposed the jail sentences, Mrs Justice Simmons said: “It gives me no pleasure whatsoever as an individual, as a judge, to have to impose serious custodial sentences but it’s my responsibility to abide by the law as it has been laid down in the statute books and previous cases before this court.”The time the men have served in custody since their arrests will be knocked off their sentences.Brian Wade pleaded guilty at a court in Pennsylvania earlier this year to possessing the cannabis he was caught with in October 2010. He was sentenced to three years on probation, along with a $1,200 fine.The airport drug smuggling ring, code-named Operation Sky High by investigators, prompted The Royal Gazette to ask the Bermuda Police a number of questions. Here they are, together with the answers provided by Acting Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell, who commanded the operation that saw three men jailed for 33 years between them yesterday.The Royal Gazette: This importation scheme was said by Brian Wade to have been going for ten to 12 years, with him putting drugs on planes to Bermuda ten to 12 times per week. How could it continue for so long without being stopped?Acting Chief Inspector Cardwell: This particular method of importing illicit drugs into Bermuda may have been going for ten years as alleged by Wade. We suspect that whilst this method may have been going on for some time, Wade has dealt with a variety of different airport personnel over this period. There have in the past been many drug operations at the LF Wade International Airport, formerly the Bermuda International Airport. A number of drug networks have been discovered, infiltrated and successfully prosecuted over the years. This particular scheme was elaborate, and there were various roles played by many individuals with the obvious intention of frustrating investigations.RG: Can you give an estimate of the amount, type and value of the narcotics imported over the years and the effect this had on Bermuda?RC: We only have the word of Wade that this method of importation (drugs secured into the body of aircraft) has been going on for ten years. We cannot place any estimation on the types of drugs or value. In the Sky High investigation we were able to establish that there was an attempt to import cannabis and heroin via this method.RG: What is the significance of guilty verdicts in this trial? How has cracking this case impacted on the level of drug importation / supply / street prices in Bermuda?RC: A lot of hard work was put into this investigation over an extended period of time, not only in Bermuda but also in the United States of America. The significance of the guilty verdicts is that the efforts and hard work of all those involved served a useful purpose both here and there. This drug conspiracy network has been shut down. Drugs that are successfully imported create misery though addiction and pain to those affected by addicts as well as contributing to other social ills.RG: What is the significance of Philadelphia as a hub for smuggling drugs to Bermuda — is it frequently used?RC: All ports where there is direct link to Bermuda are equally significant. The BPS is well aware of this and over the years have established strong partnerships with law enforcement services, departments and agencies in all hubs servicing Bermuda.RG: Can you detail your collaboration with US law enforcement, when this operation began and ended, and how many officers and man hours were involved in each country? Can you detail the individual roles of Homeland Security Investigations, Bermuda Police Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration?RC: Operation Sky High was a drug investigation that was completed in partnership between the BPS and HSI. The DEA were called upon by HSI to provide specialist support to the United States side of the investigation. The main investigation commenced in October 2010 and the first phase ended in June 2011 with arrests. From June 2011 until weeks before the trial commenced the second phase of the investigation continued in which additional evidence of the conspiracy was collected. The investigation involved approximately 30 officers contributing in various roles between the BPS, HSI and the DEA.RG: Lorenzo Lottimore was arrested at Bermuda airport on Sept 28 2010 for a security breach when he was spotted on an American Airlines plane. He told police he was trying to get access to the cockpit in order to look at the plane's instrument plates. Was that security breach by Lottimore linked to this smuggling scheme?RC: There is no evidence that the trespassing matter for which Lottimore was charged was related to the Sky High drug investigation.