An accused drug smuggler yesterday said he was forced at gunpoint to bring drugs into the Island on a commercial flight from New Jersey.

Jamie Edward Cox, 27, Altenkessel, Germany, denies four charges of importation and possession of cannabis and cocaine with intent to supply on July 20, 2003.

Police and Customs Officers saw Cox pass 66 pellets containing a total of 150 grammes of cannabis and 361 grammes of cocaine with a street value of $125,750 between July 20 to 23, 2003.

But the defendant said he was forced to swallow the drugs by a gang of men he met while visiting his sick daughter in Jamaica.

Under cross examination by Crown counsel Graveney Bannister yesterday, Cox agreed that he visited Jamaica frequently.

When Mr. Bannister asked him if he knew it was a crime to bring drugs to Bermuda, Cox replied: "It was never my intent. Yes, anywhere in the world (it is an offence)."

"I put it to you that you were well aware, when you swallowed the pellets, what they were," Mr. Bannister asked.

But Cox replied: "That's incorrect. I did not have a choice to swallow them or leave them."

"I'm suggesting to you that you were to do a favour and bring the drugs here to Bermuda and the favour was that you would get a ticket to the UK and money," Mr. Bannister said.

"That's incorrect. They kidnapped me and threatened me," Cox said.

"When you got to the hotel Mr. Cox, all the guys were smoking," Mr Bannister said. "On the table was white powder or coke."

"I don't know about that," Cox replied. "I saw pellets. Ian called for a plastic bag and emptied it on the table. It had pellets of different size."

"They weren't lollipops were they?" Mr. Bannister asked. "And I put it to you that when you talked to Police you never mentioned to Police about being threatened by a gun," he said.

But Cox said that was incorrect.

Mr. Bannister then started to ask questions about the flight from Jamaica.

"When your flight left Montego Bay, did it stop at Kingston?"

"Yes, for five minutes," Cox said.

"Five minutes? Were you riding on a bus or a plane?" Mr. Bannister asked.

He asked Cox if he told any of the people on the aeroplane about "what you had been through?"

"No, I was looking to go to the (UK) Consul. That was my plan," Cox said.

"Before you boarded the plane, at the airport, did you tell anyone about your ordeal?" Mr. Bannister asked.

Cox said he did not speak to anyone at all and even though he saw many Police in New Jersey he did not speak to any of them either.

Mr. Bannister asked Cox whether he had anything to eat or drink on the flight to New Jersey.

But when Cox said he did not have anything, Mr. Bannister said: "I guess you were already full".

The trial continues today.