A man accused of conspiring to import $252,000-worth of cannabis was cleared by a jury this afternoon.

The case against Damon Francis arose after an American national, Anthony Isaac, was found with 32 packages of cannabis in his cabin on the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn.

Opening the case against Mr. Francis on Tuesday, prosecutor Takiyah Burgess explained that Isaac was co-operative when interviewed by the Police after the cruise-ship stash was found on June 17.

Although the jury was not told as such, Isaac admitted he’d been involved in an importation conspiracy and told the Police he was to be paid $10,000 in cash for delivering the drugs to a man in Bermuda. Mr. Francis, 32, of St Mary’s Road, Warwick, was alleged by prosecutors to have been the man due to pick up the drugs.

However, the jury found him innocent of conspiring to import cannabis in a unanimous verdict this afternoon. Isaac was jailed for seven years last month for his role in bringing the drugs to Bermuda.

See tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette for the full story.