aircraft.

The narcotics literally dropped off the United Parcel Service plane, shortly after it landed in Bermuda, at 11.15 a.m. yesterday.

Glen Smith, president of IBC, the local UPS representative, said the pilots spotted the package, which fell out as they opened the cargo doors of the plane.

A full Customs and Police search with sniffer dogs was made of the plane, but nothing else was found.

It has not yet been established how much or what was seized.

Mr. Smith said the daily service, aboard a Merlin turboprop, from Newark was bringing packages from all over the world, but it was the first time such an incident had occurred.

"The plane touched down and as they opened the door, something dropped out that didn't belong there,'' he said.

"We work hand in hand with the drug enforcement agencies, so our pilots turned it over to Customs. Officers then carried out a full search of the aircraft, and we applaud that.

"They didn't find anything else.'' Last night a Police spokesman confirmed the raid had taken place but could not say whether any arrests had been made.

He said: "Police Narcotics officers assisted Customs in an exercise they were operating.

"They took part in a search of a UPS plane, and a quantity of controlled drugs were seized.'' The spokesman said it was initially a Customs Department operation, but Police were asked to assist and subsequently took over when drugs were discovered.

CRIME CRM