A man accused of importing $96,000 worth of crack cocaine and cannabis failed to give Police full names of the people he claimed to have been travelling and staying with on a trip to Jamaica, a court heard yesterday.

Jerome Eugene Dublin, 20, is facing nine charges of importing, handling, possessing and intending to supply after he was caught by Customs Officers with seven packages of drugs in his holdall when he returned to the Island on a charter flight from Montego Bay.

He denies the charges.

Narcotics officer Sergeant Dennis Gordon told Supreme Court yesterday that during an interview Dublin had mentioned first names of people he met and stayed with on the trip, including a friend named Kent, who he claimed to have travelled with.

However, when officers asked him for second names he did not respond, and requests for him to find them to ask them to help with the inquiry were ignored, said Sergeant Gordon.

The senior Police officer said, as a result, the investigating team had not travelled to Jamaica in search of more information because they had no idea who the defendant was talking about.

Sergeant Gordon said Dublin was asked while his defence lawyer at the time was present to produce full names and more information.

He said: "Because we did not get enough information, we could not do more investigating in Jamaica.

"We asked him to give us names, but he did not do so. I would have informed my chief inspector what needed to be done abroad but we were unable to.'' Defending, barrister Richard Hector asked why Police had not tried to find the man from Bermuda named Kent, who Dublin claimed to have travelled with.

He said the length and detail of the statements taken by the officer suggested he was very thorough in his work, yet he had failed to find this mystery man and had failed to include in the statements that Dublin had been asked to find the men.

The sergeant responded: "I did not have to record it. He (Dublin) was already charged and had appeared in court. What ever he said was all I was obliged to write down.

Mr. Hector said the mystery man was said to be a Kent Wilson, however, the officer said there had been no mention of his second name in the interview.

The sergeant added: "There are many Kents in Bermuda. He never mentioned Kent Wilson.'' He said Police procedure in the past meant that searching for people could be done more easily, but now searches had to be more specific.

Mr. Hector said: "What I'm saying is that you are the senior Police officer.

If you wish to find out who travelled with his man by the name of Kent, even without a second name, you could find out, with a little effort.'' During the trial yesterday, Sergeant Gordon was asked the street value of drugs in Bermuda, compared to in Jamaica or the US.

He said one pound of cannabis in Jamaica would cost about $50, where as in Bermuda the same drugs would cost between $5,000 and $7,000.

A half gramme wrap of cocaine in the US, he said, would cost $10, but in Bermuda dealers rake in huge profits charging $125 for the same amount of the drug.

The trial heard on Tuesday how Dublin began to fidget and sweat profusely when Customs Officer Tanya Quinn stopped to search his black holdall.

She said she emptied the contents of the bag out and became suspicious by the heavy weight of the empty holdall.

And when she turned the bag upside down, four screws did not match.

With Detective Constable John Clutterbuck, she cut open the bottom of the bag, which had a false bottom put in, and found seven packages and a strong herbal smell.

Government analyst Christine Quigley later revealed that there were 1,207 grammes of cannabis, worth $60,000, 203 grammes of crack cocaine, valued at $29,000, and 181.2 grammes of cannabis resin, with a street value of $7,000.

Prosecutor Juan Wolffe is acting on behalf of the Crown in the case, which is before Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller and is expected to last until the end of this week or the beginning of next.

The case continues.