A man caught smuggling almost $59,000 worth of cannabis into Bermuda in his suitcase was convicted by a jury yesterday.

Tyshaon Rawlins, 24, brought eight slabs of cannabis in on a JetBlue flight from New York on June 2, hidden in the lining of his case.

The discovery was made by Customs officers who X-rayed his luggage when he arrived in Bermuda.

Rawlins, a father-of-one, claimed he did not know the drugs were in there, and protested that he'd been "set up" by an old friend who'd asked him to bring the case to the Island.

He denied charges of drug importation and possession with intent to supply.

However, the ten women and two men who heard the trial which began on Monday morning unanimously found him guilty. Rawlins, of Sunnyside Park, Southampton, now faces a likely jail sentence.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves remanded him into custody. The date for the sentencing will be fixed when Rawlins comes back to court on December 1 for the monthly arraignments session.

Earlier in yesterday's hearing, Rawlins took the stand in his own defence, telling the jury he'd met up with a friend named Jai Hankins in New York, who he'd known since he was 13 years old.

He alleged that Mr. Hankins asked him to bring the suitcase in question back to Bermuda for Hankins' girlfriend who'd left it behind in New York and wanted it back.

He claimed he'd checked the case was empty before he brought it back but realised when he was stopped by Customs officers that Mr. Hankins had set him up.

"I told them that I was framed, I was set up because this guy, Jai Hankins, I trust him, he's family, so if someone asks me to take something over for them you know, and it's family, I'm going to do it for them," he protested.

"I'm going to trust you, I'm not going to think you're going to put drugs in the lining of the suitcase. I didn't think he was going to do that."

Rawlins explained he has no previous convictions for anything other than traffic violations and "I never got involved with drugs in my life".

However, Crown counsel Takiyah Burgess successfully urged the jury to find Rawlins guilty, insisting he knew all along the drugs were in the case and was lying when he said he'd been framed.