Victor Alongi as a liar and a cocaine addict only concerned with helping himself.

He suggested the "entire theme'' of Alongi's evidence has been to implicate Larry Sinclair Ebbin, 35, who stands accused of drug smuggling.

"That's a point of fact,'' Alongi conceded on day two of Ebbin's Supreme Court trial.

But he denied he had lied on the witness stand. And he insisted he was only a "habitual user'' of cocaine, meaning he used it for fun and never when "on business'' for the Cuban "organisation'' he worked for.

Alongi, in a Florida jail for drug trafficking, has admitted he was granted immunity from prosecution to testify against Ebbin.

Jurors heard yesterday that Alongi and the Cuban's Bermuda connections allegedly went much further in their drug dealings than Ebbin, Dexter Dillas and their landlord Ted Ming.

Alongi told of one other trip he made to the Island on his own after being beaten at gunpoint on the Cuban's motorboat off Miami.

Hugo Mata and his half-brother Marcus Cojab had found out he had made two drug runs to Bermuda without telling them. They considered Bermuda "their territory'', the court has heard.

On that trip, in October of 1989, Alongi claimed he sold three ounces of cocaine to a man Ebbin and Dillas had introduced him to -- Scotsman Murray Beveridge who was the manager of the Disco 40 nightclub.

Alongi said Beveridge later told him the owner of a Hamilton barber's shop wanted him to bring a kilo of cocaine next time he came to Bermuda.

He further testified that when he brought Mata to Bermuda in November of 1989 to introduce him to Ebbin, Dillas and Ming, the Cuban drug dealer had sold a large amount of cocaine to someone else. Alongi said he did not know who that person was.

Mr. Warner continued his cross examination by grilling Alongi on his two secret trips to Bermuda to allegedly sell cocaine to Ebbin and Dillas.

Alongi admitted he had never arranged to bring cocaine to Ebbin on the first trip. He met him once he arrived here, he said, through Ming whom he happened to meet on a cruise boat.

However, on the second trip, he claimed he spoke with both Dillas and Ebbin by telephone and told them he had "something for them'' and would be "seeing them soon''. He conceded he had not mentioned the word cocaine.

But he added, "I wasn't bringing them a birthday present -- we were dealing in cocaine.'' Mr. Warner went on to question Alongi about who had actually paid him for the drugs.

Alongi testified both Ebbin and Dillas would fetch cash and give it to him.

And he claimed that on the trip he made with Mata, $52,000 in drug sale profits was given to Ming for safekeeping.

When asked why, Alongi said Ming had a secret compartment in a "false closet'' in his Lighthouse Hill home.

When Mr. Warner pointed to "inconsistencies'' between his testimony and statement to Police in July, 1990, Alongi admitted the statement "may contain things that are not a true reflection of what I said''.

One of the inconsistencies, according to Mr. Warner, was that Alongi told Police he was going to introduce the Cubans to Colin Smith as well as Ebbin, Dillas and Ming. But Alongi denied this, saying he had not known Smith very well.

Mr. Warner also pointed out Alongi had said in the statement he used cocaine in Bermuda.

"I thought you said you did not use cocaine on business,'' Mr. Warner remarked. Alongi explained, "My business was complete.'' The trial, before Puisne Judge the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade, was adjourned in the afternoon so prison officers could attend a colleague's funeral.

The jury heard on Wednesday that in the space of a year Alongi allegedly smuggled more than three kilos of cocaine to Bermuda via airplane with the drugs on his body. The first three times he dealt with "Donna'' and on the next three trips he claimed he dealt with Ebbin and Dillas.

Ebbin has denied importing cocaine between May 11 and May 20, 1990 and conspiring to import the drug between October, 1988 and May 17, 1990 with others not before the court.

He was jailed for 20 years with Ming, Dillas, and Smith. Ming and Smith were later freed by the Appeal Court, but re-trials were ordered for Dillas (currently serving 18 years) and Ebbin.