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Drugs trial to go to jury on Monday

to $105,000 of cocaine is expected to go to the jury on Monday.Antoine Russell Wade, of George's Bay Lane, denies importing a controlled substance and possessing it with intent to supply.

to $105,000 of cocaine is expected to go to the jury on Monday.

Antoine Russell Wade, of George's Bay Lane, denies importing a controlled substance and possessing it with intent to supply.

Wade was detained by Customs officials and plainclothes Police officers shortly after disembarking from an American Airlines flight on July 28 last year.

The officers discovered 360 grams of cocaine hidden inside a speaker and clothes iron carried by Wade.

But Wade denies any knowledge of the contents of the items.

At the Airport and in a later statement he told the officers he had bought the items and was delivering them for his friend, Lemont Smith.

Yesterday, Wade rejected portions of the written statement he made to Police officers.

He also disagreed with portions of the Police records.

According to Police records, Wade was the first person to suggest the attempted delivery.

But during testimony yesterday Wade said it was one of the officers who suggested the operation.

Wade said he agreed to cooperate with the Police in order to prove his innocence and received no promises in return.

On July 29 Wade, Det. Con. Barry Richards and Customs Officer O'Brien Roberts went to Wade's girlfriend's apartment to attempt a "controlled delivery'' to Smith.

Wade and the officers made telephone contact with a man believed to be Lemont Smith at 4.25 p.m. that day.

While Mr. Roberts listened on an extension, Det. Con. Richards listened to Wade. Both officers made transcripts of the brief conversation.

Wade was later asked to verify and sign the Police records.

He reportedly told the person: "I got the speaker fixed.'' Later in the conversation, he said: "I got it done and came right back.'' Crown counsel Patrick Doherty suggested the words "fixed'' and "done'' might represent a code to show Wade had picked up the drugs.

But yesterday Wade denied he mentioned the words "fixed'' and "done''.

Mr. Doherty, however, pointed out that Wade had been given the opportunity to read the Police accounts and had also signed the individual pages of the original copy to show that he agreed with their contents.

But Wade went on to contest the validity of the signatures. He said nine of the 15 signatures and initials did not seem to be written in his hand.

He maintained that he did not know or hear of about the two words when he signed the officers' notes. But he could offer no explanation for the discrepancy.

Wade also denied a comment attributed to him in his Police statement.

When the Customs officer probed the packages with a metal spike to determine the contents, a white powder was found.

According to the statement, Wade said: "It looks like cocaine. That's the only white powder I know of.'' But Wade yesterday denied making the comment and said he merely shrugged when shown the powder.

Earlier in the trial defence lawyer Marc Telemaque raised questions about the coXTnsistency of Police and Customs notes.

The case -- before Chief Justice Austin Ward -- is expected to go to the seven-man, five-woman jury after summations on Monday.