A former narcotics detective said Police had at least six other suspects who were not before the courts in the investigative stages of a Supreme Court drugs conspiracy trial.

The trial ? currently in its sixth week ? heard from former Det. Con. Ihab Azab on Friday, who told defence lawyer Shade Subair he could not say specifically how many more suspects there were but six sounded like the correct number.

Mr. Azab also said he obtained at least six other search warrants in relation to the other suspects.

At least ten search warrants in total were obtained for the case, he said.

George Leonard Lambert, 53, of Scaur Lane, Sandys, Gladwyn Sherwyn Simmons, 54 and Ricardo Michael Tucker, 31, also from Sandys, are jointly accused of conspiring to bring in cannabis to Bermuda between February 1 and March 11, 2004.

The prosecution earlier alleged that the conspiracy involved a yacht, the , picking up ?the cargo? near Haiti on a voyage from Florida to Bermuda.

When the was searched in St. George?s on March 11, 2004, Mr. Azab said he attended the scene with two other narcotics detectives, a canine officer and a Customs officer.

He was made aware of the results of the search that day, he said, but he was not at the dock when he was informed.

Duct tape said to have plant material ? suspected to be cannabis ? on it was found on the , he said.

?The only significance was the whole investigation started late,? he said. ?The only conclusion, I suspect, is the shipment had arrived in Bermuda and we would have difficulty finding the whole shipment.?

Mr. Azab told Ms Subair he was no longer in the Bermuda Police Service and the only place he had been a Police officer was in Bermuda for five years.

He said he was now a temporary resident in Denmark and had been flown to Bermuda to help the prosecution.

The drugs conspiracy case was the largest case of his career, he said.

He was informed by a superior officer not to ask questions when Lambert?s home was searched on March 13, 2004, he said, because a tape-recorded interview system had just come online.

?In 2004 they started the tape interview,? he said. ?I was instructed not to ask any questions ? just one maximum and if the suspect volunteered a statement.?

He also said he took a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) to the Inspector in charge of the Marine Police in order to see how it worked.

?He turned it on a couple of times to try and figure out how it works,? Mr. Azab said.

Mr. Azab was asked whether he was ?potentially temperamental? after being accused of trying to pressure Tucker into giving a confession on May 30.

Ms Subair claimed he brought Tucker out of his cell at midnight for questioning on May 30, 2004.

?I don?t like this question,? Mr. Azab said. ?Midnight and all this stuff. I really hate this stuff.?

However, Ms Subair soon apologised for misreading the Police statement that said Tucker was taken out of his cell at 12.28 p.m., not 12.28 a.m.

Mr. Azab was also cross-examined by defence lawyers Elizabeth Christopher for Lambert and Michael Smith for Simmons.

Mr. Azab told Ms Christopher he never attempted to get fingerprints off a box containing the GPS found at Lambert?s home during a Police search on March 13, 2004.

When Ms Christopher asked Mr. Azab if he as investigating officer made an independent inquiry as to who else lived at the home, he said he had not.

?He mentioned something that his brother lived some time at this location,? Mr. Azab said.

He agreed that the only plant material or drug paraphernalia found there that day was a partially smoked home-made cigarette in Lambert?s bedroom.

Under questioning by Mr. Smith, Mr. Azab said he found Simmons to be co-operative during his investigations.

On re-examination by Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney, Mr. Azab said the GPS never left his possession and he searched Lambert?s home because he suspected to find some of the drugs that arrived on the .

The trial continues today before Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons.