Sentencing was adjourned in Supreme Court for a confessed drug trafficker yesterday so that prosecutors can track down an estimated $1.6 million of assets he earned while dealing in drugs.

Anthony Quinton Beach, 39, of Ariel View Road, Devonshire, who changed his not guilty plea to guilty last Thursday for importing a ''substantial'' amount of heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy on March 8 this year, was ordered by the court to produce records of his holdings locally and overseas.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke made an application to Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons - based on Section nine of the Proceeds of Crime Act - that due to his admitted drug dealings, the defendant had benefited from trafficking.

And she asked that the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) be allowed to probe any transactions that were made in Beach's name or anyone associated with him.

Ms Clarke added that the DPP is seeking to confiscate whatever proceeds may have been amassed locally and overseas by Beach. Under the Act the onus is on the defendant to prove that he did not obtain his assets through illegal activity.

Beach will be sentenced once the DPP has completed its investigation into the trafficker's assets.

Beach was originally charged jointly with 35-year-old Kirk Randolph Simmons for 20 counts of drug importation, possession and handling on March 8.

Through a joint operation between the US Drug Enforcement Agency and Bermuda Police a trafficking ring was uncovered with alleged connections in Jamaica, US and Bermuda. Beach, whose father is serving jail time overseas for his role in the alleged ring, is considered by the Crown to be a key player in the realm of international drug trafficking.

Simmons, of Rockville Lane, Pembroke has maintained his innocence in the charges and is awaiting trial.

Mrs. Justice Simmons set the matter down to be heard on November 30.