yesterday of importing and handling up to a quarter of a million dollars worth of marijuana intended for sale.

Carlston Hollis Spencer, 52, of Harlem Heights Road, was ordered held in custody to await sentencing by Puisne Judge the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade.

In Supreme Court yesterday, a jury of four men and eight women unanimously found Spencer guilty of importing illegal drugs. And in a 10-2 decision, the jury also found him guilty of knowingly handling illegal drugs intended for supply on April 6, 1994.

Customs officers at Number 8 Shed discovered just over five kilograms of marijuana hidden inside one of 56 cases of Black and Tan beer imported by Spencer from the United States, Court was told during a trial last week.

In an undercover operation, Police replaced the case with a dummy package and dusted it with fingerprint powder.

A Police officer in civilian clothes followed the truck that collected the cases to Hip Hop Fashions boutique in Hamilton Parish where Spencer was arrested.

Depending on how the drugs were sold, they would have fetched between $90,000 and $255,000 on the streets of Bermuda, Court was told.

Spencer maintained he knew nothing of the drugs. And his lawyer Mr. Mark Pettingill argued he was the victim of a conspiracy.