the Supreme Court yesterday.

Luke Albert Hill, 35, of Cottage Hill, Hamilton Parish pleaded not guilty to importing cocaine on February 10, 1999.

He also pleaded not guilty to possession with intent to supply, and handling with intent to supply, both on February 11, 1999.

Hill was represented by Richard Hector, who is fresh from his trial in the British Virgin Islands.

Principal Crown counsel, Dorien Taylor told the eight man, four women jury that a letter package, addressed to Hill, sent from Canada arrived at the Federal Express (Fed-Ex) office in Bermuda on February 10, 1999.

Police intercepted the suspect package the next morning and opened it with the Government analyst, who established it was cocaine with a street value of $11,500 and was 64 percent pure.

A dummy package was then prepared with a control package of cocaine and it was given back to Fed-Ex and surveillance was set up.

At 11 a.m. Police saw Hill speaking with a woman outside the Fed-Ex office -- which was then located on Par-La-Ville road -- he gave her a piece of paper and told her to get the package.

She got the package, signed Sam Smith and took it to Hill.

She later told Police that it was not the first time she had done this for Hill.

Police followed Hill as he walked away and saw him tear up the airway bill and throw it in a trash can.

Police recovered the bill and pieced it back together and saw that the number was the same as the one on the package.

Police followed him to a house and then went to get a search warrant.

They arrived at the house, knocked on the door, but had to force their way in.

By the time they found Hill, he had flushed a toilet and the control sample of cocaine was never retrieved. Hill was subsequently arrested and interviewed.

At yesterday's trial, evidence was heard from Scenes of Crimes officer Stephen Palmer who reconstructed and took photographs of the airway bill.

Evidence was also heard from ex-Fed-Ex employee, Phillapa Cox-Basden who gave the suspect package to Narcotics officer David Bird, and was handed the package back an hour later.

The trial continues today before Acting Justice Archibald Warner