The backrest of an Essential Gas Lift student chair contained 661 grams of cannabis worth over $33,000 on the street, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

The chair was allegedly for a Sandra Dill at the Department of Education. However on the stand today Ms Dill denied she ordered any goods from the United States, nor had she conducted any business for the Department of Education in August of 2005.

The chair was in a package, which was addressed to a Sandra Dill for the Department of Education from an Allen Thomas in Orange, New Jersey.

The drugs were discovered in the backrest of the chair by Customs officer Hillary Rodhill at the Bermuda International Airport on August 12, 2005 after suspicious behaviour by the defendant, Shane Minors, alerted him.

Minors, 27 of King Street, Pembroke, pleaded not guilty to possession of cannabis with the intent to supply on Tuesday in Supreme Court.

The cannabis was found in the chair Minors tried to pick up for an Alan Spencer at 5 p.m., however, without the correct documentation and because of the time, he was told to return on Monday.

Court heard yesterday that when Minors returned on Monday, August 15, he was given the documents necessary by Xiomara Curly, an administrative assistant for Rafur Services Ltd., a forwarding service at the airport, to pick up the chair.

Rafur Services, as were the Customs and the Police were aware of the package and were on alert for the person coming to pick it up. It was Senior Customs officer Andrea Mckey who then examined the forms before allowing a package handler to retrieve it and when Minors bent down to allegedly sign the form, she went around the corner and called Detective Constable Roberts.

Ms McKey told court that Minors got on his bike with the package and drove towards Cahow Road, when four police officers in an unmarked police car pulled in front of him blocking Minor’s exit.

Detective Constable Roderick Masters was in the car and told the court that Detective Constable Leroy Mathurin identified them as Police Officers before Minors veered behind the car, trying to pass it on the left side.

D.c. Masters told the jury that the four officers got out of of the car and he was on the left.

He told the court that he grabbed Minors’ shirt, but that failed to stop the defendant who continued to ride his bike for another five to seven feet. It wasn’t until D.c. Masters eventually pushed Minors, which caused him to lose his balance and fall, that the officers were able to arrest him.

D.c. Mathurin told the court he then cautioned Minors and told him he was arrested for possession of a controlled substance before transporting him to the Airport Police Station.

Yesterday, Mr. Rodhill’s supervising officer, Senior Customs officer Ms. McKey told the court why an investigation into the Department of Education packages was done following the departure of Minors on August 12.

She said: “The defendant said he was there to pick up a package for the Department of Education, but Customs officer Rodhill said that the package handlers had gone home for the day and the package could not be retrieved.

“He only had a small piece of paper which he handed to Rodhill and officer Rodhill told him to get the correct documents and come back on Monday.

“I then gave instructions to Rodhill, because normally people who come for the Department of Education come in brown uniforms with Department of Education written on it and have the correct documentation when they come to pick it up.”

The prosecution will continue its case tomorrow with testimony from D.c. Mathurin.