A man caught importing $383,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis some in pellets he'd swallowed has been jailed for ten years. Jamaican national Donald Lowrie claimed he was forced to swallow the drugs at gunpoint, and did not alert the authorities for fear his family would be harmed.

However, Chief Justice Richard Ground rejected the tale, noting that Lowrie made no mention of threats to his family when he was caught red-handed at the airport. "One would expect the defendant upon his arrest, knowing the game was up, to take immediate steps to safeguard his loved ones' safety by notifying the authorities," he observed. "I don't believe him, in other words."

Crown counsel Nicole Smith had explained how Lowrie, 44, of Hollywood, Florida, arrived in Bermuda on a commercial flight from Miami last October 3. His "bulky pants" aroused the suspicion of customs officers, as did his tale that he'd come to the Island to watch Beyonce perform at the Music Festival. The pop diva had in fact performed the night before.

Ms Smith described how Lowrie became "defensive and agitated" as his bag was searched and officers found anti-diarrhea tablets inside. He refused to participate in a pat-down search and was arrested. He was eventually searched at the airport Police station and a bulky object was found taped to his groin which contained a quantity of pellets.

Lowrie subsequently admitted to having swallowed 60 pellets containing drugs, and was taken to the hospital where an X-ray revealed them inside his stomach. He excreted 59 pellets over the course of the next three days and was discharged from the hospital on October 9.

A total of 253 pellets were recovered from Lowrie and the package. Of those, 112 were cocaine hydrochloride weighing almost one kilogram and the rest were cannabis resin, weighing 1.3 kilograms. Lowrie pleaded guilty to drug importation on the morning his trial was due to begin on March 16 this year.

The court heard that Lowrie was born in Jamaica, but has permanent US residency. He is single, with sons aged 16 and 17, and a 21-year-old daughter. Prior to his arrest, he worked in the US in the construction industry, and had previously visited Bermuda in August 2008. His lawyer, Craig Attridge, said it would be "highly improper" to draw any conclusions about the reason for his previous trip to the Island.

Invited to address the Chief Justice yesterday, Lowrie said: "I must apologise to the court and to the citizens of this beautiful country. However, I was tricked and forced into doing this.

I had just two options, I chose one which I thought was the best. The reason I'm here today? It was to protect my family, and not just my mother my two sisters and my grandmother (who) is 97 years old."

Lowrie claimed he did not have the means to contact the Police in Jamaica and his relatives there live 25-30 miles from the nearest Police station anyway.

"By the time the Police got there it would have been too risky," he told the court, going on to explain that he was "assisted" through the airport in Miami, so could not raise the alarm there.

Rejecting his explanation, Mr. Justice Ground meted out concurrent sentences of ten years for the cocaine hydrochloride and five years for the cannabis resin.

The time Lowrie has spent in custody since last October will be taken into account.