A businessman went on trial at Supreme Court yesterday charged with smuggling almost $200,000 of cannabis into the Island in a crate with a false bottom.

Narcotics officers took most of the drugs from the crate at the docks in Hamilton and replaced them with dummy packages before the container was delivered to a carpentry shop in Dockyard.

Terry Eugene Darrell, who owns the carpentry shop in Freeport Road, Dockyard, denies importing eight and a half pounds of the drug from Florida between August 8 and August 14 1998, and of possessing the drug with intent to supply.

Special Det. Con. Timothy Hayward, a Customs officer attached to the narcotics department, told the court that narcotics officers received information that drugs would be brought in from Jacksonville, Florida, on the Somer's Isles .

On August 9, the team located the wooden crate in a container in No. 7 dock in Hamilton. Det. Con. Hayward said he found it strange that the wooden container was covered in plastic.

Eight boxes were taken out of the crate, holes were knocked in the bottom to discover the false floor, and the crate was re-packed. Two nights later, the team lifted the floor off the crate and found 18 packages of plant substance which were later found to be cannabis.

Earlier, Crown counsel Sandra Bacchus said the jury would hear that a "Mr.

Green'' had agreed to drive the crate to Darrell's shop, but decided to help Police after his lorry was intercepted by officers.

Detective Constable Barry Richards of the narcotics division, said the 3,908 grams of the drug would have a street value of $195,400 if sold in $25 half gram bags - the most popular form of sale here.

Benita DeSilva, the president and manager of freight handlers Sea Venture, said Darrell, 43, of Southampton, contacted her company in July 1998 about shipping building materials from Miami.

After the materials arrived in Bermuda, he wanted to change what was on the shipment to also include used tools and declared the goods to be worth $1200.

She told Ms Bacchus that Darrell produced a fax from a company called Office Depot in Florida which caused her concern because it did not have any letterhead on it.

It mentioned a company called Ace Forwarding would be involved, but Ms DeSilva said: "There is no record of Ace Forwarding. We don't know who they are.'' She agreed with Mr. Pettingill that she had never seen Darrell until he came into her office to pay his bill.

She also agreed that Darrell had set up a meeting with Customs to check out the delivery because, said Mr. Pettingill, he "wasn't exactly sure about everything to do with it''.

Ms Bacchus asked Ms DeSilva: "If he had never reported the used tools, in terms of Mr. Darrell's ability to clear the crate, would he need to set up an appointment with Customs?'' Ms DeSilva said no. She was asked if Darrell would have had to produce invoices and she said he would. However, Darrell did not produce invoices, she said.

The trial before Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons continues today. Mark Pettingill is acting for the defence.