A Canadian stripper accused of importing cocaine inside golf clubs admitted yesterday that she took a set of clubs into the Island for a Bermudian who a month earlier had asked her if she would smuggle drugs to Bermuda.

Anna Formanchuck said Bermudian Alphonso Caesar, known as Bumpy, had asked her in Toronto if she would take drugs to the Island and that nowadays "they put stuff in stuff".

Formanchuck, who denies importation of cocaine worth $93,000 which was found inside golf clubs, and possession of the drug with intent to supply on July 5 last year, said she did not know the clubs were stuffed with cocaine.

She told a Supreme Court jury Mr. Caesar and Bermudian nightclub owner Delvin Bean had told her last June that they wanted her and another stripper to do a show in Atlanta, Georgia.

She said Mr. Caesar bought her a ticket from Toronto to Atlanta on July 4 last year, but she was surprised to find out the final destination was Bermuda instead.

Formanchuck took her lawyer Elizabeth Christopher that she had been to Bermuda before and had known Mr. Bean and Mr. Caesar for two or three years.

She said at the airport in Atlanta on July 5, a light-skinned curly haired man gave Mr. Caesar a golf bag with clubs, which Mr. Caesar then asked her to take to Bermuda.

But when she arrived at Bermuda International Airport, the bag was seized by Customs and Police.

She admits lying to Customs by telling them the clubs belonged to her stepfather because she did not want them to know she would be dancing in Bermuda.

She claims Mr. Caesar, who she originally thought would travel with her on July 5, told her he would meet her in Bermuda.

Formanchuck, 22, was allowed to go free but Police and Customs returned a golf bag with clubs to her on July 8 as she was about to return to Atlanta. She told a Customs officer, however, that they were not the same clubs which she surrendered three days earlier.

The clubs were opened later that day and found to contain the cocaine.

Formanchuck told the jury that on the Friday night she arrived in Bermuda, she met Mr. Bean in Docksiders bar in Hamilton and that he gave her $500.

She claims she stayed with Mr. Caesar's sister Monique over the weekend and that Mr. Bean put her in touch with lawyer Llewelyn Peniston after the golf bag was seized.

Formanchuck said on the Saturday she became worried about the golf bag being seized and "confronted" Mr. Bean and asked him to call Mr. Caesar in Atlanta.

Mr. Bean said he did have the number and Mr. Caesar's sister Monique called instead.

Formanchuck said yesterday: "Alphonso told me I should not worry, that everything is okay, there is nothing in the golf bag.

"I said to Alphonso that if anything happens to me I will tell them all who was responsible for this."

"He said if anything happens he will say that he does not know me and that he knows where my family lives."

On the morning of Sunday April 7, she was told to go to Police headquarters at Prospect to examine the golf bag. She said she went with a James Conyers, who she described as a friend, and her lawyer Llewelyn Peniston. She said she found out later that Mr. Bean had arranged for Mr. Peniston to be her lawyer.

As no one was at Prospect, Mr. Peniston called her to say they had to go to Horizons to meet Police and Customs officers. There, a golf expert examined the clubs and found they were "reasonably balanced".

Special Customs officer Heather Brown told Formanchuck she was free to go after the examination and that she could get her clubs and documents on Monday prior to her departure, the defendant testified. Formanchuck said when officer Brown showed her the clubs at the airport on the Monday, she said they were not the same ones taken from her on Friday.

Yesterday, she agreed with Crown counsel Graveney Bannister that she lied to Customs officers about saying she was staying at one of the Princess hotels when she was really staying with Mr. Caesar's sister.

She said she was not lying now because she "had been saved" by God.

Mr. Bannister asked her: "You knew before you set off with those clubs, what was inside those clubs."

She replied: "No I did not."

Mr. Bannister asked: "You were asked by someone (Alphonso) if you would bring drugs to Bermuda?"

She replied: "Yes, prior to the trip (to Bermuda) in Toronto. I was asked if I would ever bring in drugs and I stated I would not. Alphonso asked me."

Mr. Bannister said: "You knew Alphonso was interested in bringing drugs to Bermuda?"

Formachuck replied: "No, I was not aware because I forgot the conversation because it was over a month earlier."

Trial judge Assistant Justice Archibald Warner asked Formachuck: "Alphonso asked if you would ever bring drugs to Bermuda. That being the case, you were aware that Alphonso was interested in you bringing drugs to Bermuda?"

She answered: "I'm not sure how I explain it to you. I did not remember the conversation because it was a big conversation."

Mr. Justice Warner: "Having had the conversation, you must have been aware that Alphonso was interested in you brining drugs to Bermuda?"

Formanchuck: "I was not aware he was interested. The conversation was very brief. After the conversation I forgot it."

Formanchuck then admitted she was aware of the drugs conversation with Alphonso.

She added: "I decided to do a favour of bringing in the clubs because I was staying up at Alphonso's house. Alphonso and Delvin assured me on Saturday that there was nothing there."

Mr. Bannister said: "You remember the conversation with Bumpy (Alphonso Caesar) when he said `they put stuff in stuff'?"

She said: "Yes (he said) `these days they put stuff in stuff'." But she said she told him she would not smuggle drugs.

The trial continues today.