Two cruise ship workers and a Jamaican living in Bermuda denied charges of importing and handling $45,000 worth of cocaine yesterday.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner put prosecutors on notice that he intends for the summary case against Clinton Alphonso Wright, Lennox Lorraine Afflick, and Yagustanta Bramada complete within the next eight weeks.

All were remanded in custody pending completion of paperwork.

Booth Afflick, a 40-year-old Jamaican, and Bramada, a 23-year-old Indonesian, work on the cruise ship Zenith .

Their home addresses are not known while Wright is a 34-year-old construction worker from Wellman Lane, Warwick.

Wright's mother has lived in Bermuda for more than 30 years and he has a Bermudian wife and a newborn child, and is a construction worker.

The men were arrested on Monday and each elected to have a Magistrate's court trial.

The trio deny importing 240.3 grams of cocaine between July 22 and 24, and Afflick and Bramada deny supplying cocaine on July 24 and an alternative charge of handling with intent to supply.

Wright also denies possession of cocaine with intent to supply and an alternative charge of handling cocaine.

Mr. Warner advised the men they were entitled to apply for legal aid and noted they had been held without being charged for more than the legal 72 hour period.

He remarked to Wright's lawyer, Richard Hector, that he could have applied for a "habeas corpus'' writ against the Police but Mr. Hector replied that "I try to be helpful to Police''.

The case was delayed for some time yesterday while the charges were being processed and Mr. Hector gave some cursory legal advice to Afflick and Bramada, who speaks English as a second language.

At one point Mr. Hector had to take Bramada out of the court to explain the charges.

The men sat quietly in the court for more than an hour waiting for the case to start.

Mr. Warner said: "I intend to try these men in these courts in eight weeks at the very most. All three defendants are remanded in custody until August 11.''