A Warwick man has been found guilty of importing $60,000 of cocaine in plastic bags taped into the back pockets of four pairs of trousers he was carrying.

In Supreme Court yesterday, a ten-woman, two-man jury took about 90 minutes to find Dudley Allen Lightbourne, 43, of Cedar Hill, Warwick, guilty by a unanimous verdict of importing and being in possession of a controlled drug he intended to supply.

In his closing arguments Crown counsel Graveney Bannister pointed out that Lightbourne told Police seven or eight different versions of how he got the drugs during a trip to Jamaica.

?Is that the demeanour of an innocent man?? Mr. Bannister asked. ?I say no.?

He said Lightbourne was not a rookie traveller and had been to Jamaica many times. He said Lightbourne?s story was unbelievable.

Lightbourne was stopped and searched by Customs officers at the Bermuda International Airport on April 9, 2003.

?He had close to two years to come up with an explanation,? Mr. Bannister said. ?Are you going to accept this version??

He asked the jury whether an innocent man would ask Police if they could make a deal if he co-operated.

Lightbourne was weighing up his options when he asked for a deal because he had reason to suspect he was carrying drugs, Mr. Bannister said.

He said the idea of carrying out a sting operation was merely a distraction, because he knew what he was carrying.

Even the trousers in which the bags of cocaine were taped were several sizes too large for Lightbourne, Mr. Bannister pointed out.

And he warned the jury not to believe Lightbourne simply because he took an oath on a Bible.

?A lot of people who say Lord, Lord, won?t go to the Kingdom,? Mr. Bannister said.

Defence lawyer Larry Scott said Lightbourne did not dispute importing drugs into the Island, but the question was whether his client knew what he was carrying.

He admitted his client lied to Police, but said Lightbourne was lying about where he got the trousers, not where he got the drugs.

?People lie for all kinds of reasons,? he said. ?Remember his explanation. He said he was tired and confused.?

He said his client was not some ingenious drugs mule but was naive and stupid.

?If he is such a clever importer why not go through greater effort to disguise it?? he asked.

Police settled for a small fish when they arrested Lightbourne, Mr. Scott said, because they did not feel like going to extra mile to get a bigger drug dealer.

His client went to Jamaica to have fun with girls he said, but peace was yet to be settled between Lightbourne and his wife.

?That is a sentence he will have for a good few years to come,? he said. ?I suggest to you his biggest sin was against his wife, not importing drugs?.

Lightbourne?s wife left the court in tears when her husband was found guilty.

Before he gave his summation, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves instructed the jury to feel the weight of the plastic bags taped into the back pockets of the four pairs of trousers.

?The pants are very heavy,? Mr. Justice Greaves said. ?You had the pants. Assess for yourselves?.

The Puisne Judge said Lightbourne folded the jeans and put them in his luggage because he was a neat man.

?If he folded them neatly he had to weigh them in his hands,? he said.

He reminded the jury that expert witness Det. Sgt. Christopher Clarke said the drugs were for distribution.

?The issue in this case was whether or not Lightbourne knew he was carrying drugs,? he said.

?If you are sure he knew, you must find him guilty. If you are not sure, you must find him not guilty. If he said anything that made you feel he didn?t know, you must find him not guilty,? Mr. Justice Greaves said.Mr. Justice Greaves remanded Lightbourne in custody until April 1, when a sentencing date will be fixed.

Mr. Scott said yesterday he had received no instructions about an appeal.