A jury has cleared an airport worker over charges that he imported $2.2 million worth of drugs.

Prosecutors had alleged that Bermuda Aviation Services (BAS) worker Macai Bean, 25, drove a sanitation truck up to the Delta flight that arrived from Boston at 11.40 a.m on September 1, 2008.

A blue duffel bag dropped out of the aircraft hold and landed by another BAS employee who was said to have kicked it towards Bean. He was alleged to have picked it up, carried it to the truck and driven off.

A search was launched after security guard Iris Young reported seeing the suspicious activity. Two hours later, the bag was found by a customs officer near the waste dump at the airport. It contained 18 kilograms of cannabis and half a kilo of heroin, with a total street value of $2.28 million.

Bean, of Main Road, Sandys, denied conspiring with others to import heroin and cannabis and possessing it with intent to supply.

He admitted he was working and that he drove the truck that day. However, he said other persons drove the truck too. He said that $15,000 in cash found under his bed by Police during the investigation was his life savings and had nothing to do with drugs.

He told the jury earlier this week that he had no knowledge of the bag or the drugs and Ms Young must have seen someone else.

The jury cleared him by a unanimous verdict this afternoon after deliberating for just over two hours. See tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette for more.