A "professional'' drug courier who smuggled cocaine worth $150,000 into Bermuda was imprisoned for seven and a half years yesterday.

Wayne William Maximchuk swallowed 78 plastic pellets filled with the drug, but was caught by narcotics officers in the Mazarine by the Sea guest house on North Shore Road, Pembroke, on June 28.

Maximchuk, 44, of Calgary, Alberta, whom the Supreme Court heard had become a Christian while inside Westgate Correctional Facility, pleaded guilty to importation of the drugs.

Sentencing him yesterday, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said: "The offence you have committed and pleaded guilty to is a very serious one.

Society takes a very dim view of people who traffic in drugs and I must reflect that condemnation by imposing a lengthy custodial sentence.

"The reason why we abhor crimes such as the one you have committed is because cocaine and other dangerous drugs are destroying lives and the fabric of our society.'' Crown counsel Peter Eccles said when narcotics officers raided the guest house, Maximchuk was lying on a bed while Paula Madill, 33, also of Calgary, was lying by the pool outside.

He said Madill, who denies possession of cocaine with intent to supply and will stand trial on February 14, and Maximchuk were asked if they had drugs and both said no.

Maximchuk then handed over a pellet of cocaine and a saucepan containing 27 of the capsules. He told the officers: "I wasn't going to hide them because you'd find them anyway.'' During the course of six days at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Maximchuk excreted a further 50 pellets, taking the total weight of the drug was 522 grammes.

Maximumchuk admitted to officers he had previously brought drugs into the Island.

He described a man called Don, aged about 40, who was his contact in Bermuda.

Shortly after the raid, a man fitting that description visited the apartment and was arrested. The Crown did not proceed with charges against the Bermudian.

Mr. Eccles said Don met a Jamaican called Ron at the Spinning Wheel nightclub.

Maximchuk said he had met Ron in Jamaica before and had received drugs from him.

"This was a swallowing case, one of the most difficult methods to detect,'' Mr. Eccles said. "He is an individual who by his own admission has previously imported drugs in this way.

"He is not an amateur. He is a professional courier. He engages in this activity for money, pure and simple.

Courier imprisoned There is no other motivation other than it is his job.'' Mr. Eccles said there was no indication that Maximchuk had any drug problem.

However, Maximchuk's lawyer, Elizabeth Christopher, said he had an alcohol and substance abuse problem.

He was separated from his common law wife and two daughters aged seven and eight. He had maintenance payments to keep and lost a series of jobs.

It was while he was employed in lower paid jobs that he came into contact with drug users, she said.

She said Maximchuk, a chef, had admitted importing drugs three or four times before and was expected to be paid $2,500 for this consignment.

"That doesn't put him in the bracket of an exceptionally big-time courier,'' she said. He had volunteered the information to Narcotics officers since his arrest.

Mrs. Justice Simmons countered: "What choice did he have? He's an intelligent man and he knew the game was up.'' The court heard that Maximchuk had volunteered to attend Christian Prison Fellowship meetings at Westgate.

Prison Fellowship organiser Edward Fisher described Maximuchuk as "a bit of a teddy bear''.

He told the court: "I found him quiet, subdued, but open to the will of God to the extent that while we were in a meeting, after several weeks he in fact turned his life around and gave it to the Lord Jesus Christ.

"I found him to be sincere and that is why I volunteered to attend today. At no time did he ask me to attend.'' Maximchuk told the court: "I would like to apologise to the courts and the people of Bermuda for my actions. I was between a rock and a hard place because of financial difficulties.'' W. Maximuchuk DRUGS DGS