could be set to do an encore -- as head of the Commission of Inquiry into the Bermuda Police drugs squad.

Sources said retired Appeal Court judge Telford Georges was yesterday being considered to take charge of the sensitive inquiry.

Deputy Governor Peter Willis was staying tight-lipped over Governor Thorold Masefield's choice to head the inquiry and refused to comment on its other members.

He added that an announcement on the team to head the Commission could be expected "within the next few days''.

The Royal Gazette , however, understands that Mr. Georges would fit the bill, which calls for an independent and highly-respected head for the probe.

But he is familiar with Bermuda, having headed the probe into the one-day delay in the 1995 referendum, and having sat on the Court of Appeals up to 1994.

He also headed a Bermuda Crime Commission which sat between 1977 and 1978.

And Mr. Georges also has a formidable legal track record -- he served as Chief Justice of the Bahamas from 1984 to 1989, Zimbabwe in 1983 and Tanzania from 1965 to 1967.

Dominica-born Mr. Georges, now in his 60s, now lives in Barbados.

Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes -- who sat with Mr. Georges on the Independence Referendum Commission of Inquiry -- refused to speculate on whether Mr. Georges would be picked for the job.

But he said: "He is a very clever man -- a top man with a brilliant legal mind.'' Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness announced at the start of the month that an independent inquiry was to be held into the drugs squad.

The move came after controversy over events surrounding the acquittal of Ellsworth Wilson on drugs charges. The probe was ordered after consultation with the Governor.

The case against Mr. Wilson collapsed after whistle-blowing Det. Con. Lendrea Davis claimed she had been pressured by other officers to change her statements to match those of other officers involved in the investigation.

Mr. Wilson was acquitted on charges of possessing and handling more than $50,000 worth of heroin and having the drug with intent to supply dating from last year.

He walked free from Supreme Court after Puisne Judge Norma Wade directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts on all charges, ruling the continuity of evidence had not been maintained.

Inquiry Mrs. Justice Wade dismissed the case because the drugs had not been properly signed in after they were allegedly seized. But she also slammed the drugs squad handling of the case as "the most reprehensible conduct'' she had ever seen and added that it "brought the entire Police force into disrepute''.

And she praised the woman detective -- who resigned from the service at the end of June -- for showing "tremendous courage'' in the face of severe pressure.

The Police later said Ms Davis was under investigation for two alleged "serious breaches of conduct'' prior to the row over the Wilson case -- and added that she would still be the subject of internal inquiries if she had not resigned from the force.

Deputy Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay announced an internal probe into the controversy and claims of Police bungling of the Wilson case after the acquittal. But Mr. Wilson's defence counsel Tim Marshall, backed by lawyers acting for Ms Davis, demanded an independent inquiry.

Mr. Edness, in a statement to the House of Assembly, said the case had caused "understandable concern and unease in the minds of the public'' and said it was "important to take immediate steps to investigate the matter thoroughly''.