Global Positioning System technology traced the path of a yacht allegedly used in a plot to import cannabis, a jury heard yesterday.

Sandys Parish men George Leonard Lambert, 53, Gladwyn Sherwyn Simmons, 54, and Ricardo Michael Tucker, 31, are accused of the conspiracy in 2004.

Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney has previously told the court this involved the yacht leaving Florida, stopping to refuel in South Caicos, and then picking up ?the cargo? in the northern area of Haiti. The Crown further alleges that later entered Bermuda undetected because a tracking system had been broken in Hurricane Fabian.

Crown witness Scott Simmons, Port Security Officer for Bermuda Harbour Radio, explained how Global Positioning System technology works using ?waypoint? markers to help mariners plot and follow a course on an ocean voyage.

He told the court he was called upon by Police in July 2004 to review navigation equipment aboard the He said that despite a Garmin brand GPSmap 215 and Raytheon brand Pathfinder radar with integrated chart plotter being ?definitely operational? he was unable to find any information on them. However, he said he was able to find information on a handheld GPS about its movements from an area approximately 400 miles south west of Bermuda. He said there were around 90 ?waypoints? entered in the unit leading up to the arrival in the Island?s waters.

Mr. Simmons used a projection screen in the courtroom to illustrate to the jury the dates that certain ?waypoint? markers were generated ? starting with some in the region of Tampa Bay, Florida, in mid February then moving towards Cuba and to the north of the Dominican Republic in the vicinity of the Turk and Caicos islands before reaching Bermuda in early March 2004. He then showed a graphic detailing the track of the yacht in the mid-Atlantic ? this later placed the vessel in Ely?s Harbour on March 8, 2004.

The court also heard evidence from Nadine Kirkos, a Government analyst who examined items found by Police during a search of Lambert?s home. She described finding fragments of cannabis in a number of bags, in a hand-rolled cigarette and on a circular saw.

Lambert, Simmons and Tucker deny conspiring together with others to import cannabis. Lambert denies separate charges of possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing equipment for the preparation of a controlled drug. He has pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and possessing equipment for preparing a controlled drug. The case continues.