A man accused of importing heroin yesterday claimed a "very smooth lady" he met on vacation in Jamaica planted drugs hidden in hair care products in his bags.

Michael Troy Berkley, who denies importing 155 grams of heroin with intent to supply and importing 13 grams of cannabis on May 10, 2004, claimed he had no idea that the woman, who spent two nights with him in his hotel room, had planted the drugs while he was taking a shower.

Asked by defence lawyer Victoria Pearman to explain to the jury what happened on his trip to Jamaica two years ago, he said he had never purchased the organic hair care products or olive oil based soap which allegedly contained both heroin and cannabis.

Berkley said he became friendly with a woman named Nadine Brown while on holiday. Ms Brown lived in Bermuda for a period and when they ran into each other in Montego Bay they hung out, he said.

He told the jury that Ms Brown questioned him about a number of people she said were still living on the Island, none of whom he knew. He said Ms Brown spent two nights in his hotel room during his nine-day stay.

On the second night they began discussing hair care and he showed her his "Miracle Grow" formula and neutraliser, he said. After the second night she offered to do some laundry for him. He, in turn, told her she should try some of his hair products. He poured some into a separate bottle and she left, he told the court.

On the last day of his vacation Ms Brown returned to his room while he was in the shower. When he emerged from the bathroom she told him that she had placed his clean clothes in his packed suitcase, he said. Ms Brown also explained there were two towels in the bag that she wanted him to bring back as gifts for friends.

"She said the soap and hair stuff I had given her was nice but she wanted me to try the soap she used," he told the court. "It was a type of olive oil stuff and she said she put it in my bag. And, my lady," he told Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves, "she was very smooth."

He gave Ms Brown his number in Bermuda and they said they would stay in contact, he said.

When he arrived in Bermuda, after a brief stay in Atlanta, his bags were searched by Senior Customs Officer Edward Lambert. Mr. Lambert told the court earlier in the trial that he was amazed by the number of hair products Berkley owned and that it raised his suspicions.

Berkley yesterday said he never claimed ownership of the organic hair care, which he told the court Ms Brown had placed in his bag, but did say he owned the miracle growth products. He added that he was "surprised, shocked and angry" when he was asked to strip and be x-rayed to see if he had hidden or ingested drugs. No drugs were found on Berkley's person.

Police found drugs in the organic hair products and a hair brush. Crown Counsel Graveney Bannister questioned him about aspects of his work history and suggested that they were made up, something the defendant denied. The trial continues today with Mr. Bannister's cross examination.