A Crown witness in a Supreme Court drugs trial yesterday alleged that one of the accused asked him if there was anyway of bringing in "some stuff'' through golf clubs.

Former Mid-Ocean Club employee James Lambert was the first witness to testify in the trial of Richard Ricardo Steede, 39, of 12 Kitty Lane, Hamilton Parish and Lang Onley, 40, of 12 Harvest Lane, Hamilton Parish. Both men are charged with conspiring to import cocaine, handling the drug, and possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Last week the jury in the case was discharged after the judge learned that a juror was seen communicating with Steede during the selection process.

Yesterday, Mr. Lambert told the court he was asked by Steede if there were ways of using golf clubs to import drugs into Bermuda. Mr. Lambert said he did not want to put his job at risk so he only discussed how to import cocaine in golf clubs with Steede.

Mr. Lambert said he did not want to put his job at risk because he was a family man.

Crown counsel Peter Eccles asked Mr. Lambert what he understood stuff to mean.

"I understand stuff to be drugs,'' he replied.

Mr. Eccles then asked Mr. Lambert if there was anything in the deal for him.

"Yes,'' he said. "If I did it, they were to give me some cocaine for bringing it in.'' Mr. Eccles told the court earlier during his opening speech how shafts of 16 golf clubs were used to import more than a pound of cocaine valued at $138,000.

Mr. Eccles said the drugs were shipped from New York to Onley, a former caddy at the Mid-Ocean Club.

Mr. Eccles said the golf clubs arrived at the airport via Fed-Ex between March 28 and 31, 1998. The golf clubs were examined by X-ray and Custom officials found the check to be inconclusive.

The cocaine-laced clubs were shipped to the Mid-Ocean Club for Onley to pick up.

Mr. Eccles claimed that the cocaine was imported by a joint enterprise between Steede and Onley.

On March 29 narcotics officers, with the help of a golf professional, went to the club and watched the removal of a powdery substance from the shafts of the golf clubs, said Mr. Eccles.

He said the powder was analysed and found to be 388 grams of cocaine which was 73 to 78 percent pure. The cocaine was so tightly packed that all could not be removed from the shafts, Mr. Eccles added.

More than 13 grams of cannabis were also found in the clubs.

The court heard a golf professional, working with Police, removed the grips off the golf clubs without damaging them. He then refilled the vacant spaces in the shafts with sand under Police supervision and the narcotics officers returned them to the Mid-Ocean Club. A controlled sample of cocaine was put back in the shaft of one of the 16 clubs, the court heard.

Mr. Eccles said as the clubs were not picked up by March 31 they were sent to the caddie master's shack. He said some ten minutes after they arrived there Onley arrived on a motorcycle, ridden by Steede, to collect the golf clubs.

Mr. Eccles said the two men travelled to Steede's residence where an officer, stationed there, saw Steede at the back of a tool shed on the edge of a neighbour's property. Police saw Steede running away from 12 Kitty Drive, Hamilton Parish and subsequently arrested him on April 7, 1998.

The shed was searched and Onley was found in the dark with the golf bags.

Mr. Eccles said Onley was searched by Police who found a Fed-Ex tracking number on a piece of paper for the golf clubs.

The court also heard a torn piece of paper was subsequently found during a Police search of Steede's residence.

The paper is alleged to match the one found on Onley at the time of his arrest on April 31, 1998.

The case continues today before Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller.

Lawyer Richard Hector is representing Steede and Onley is represented by lawyer Mark Pettingill.