HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — A jury has found a disabled Jamaican man innocent of trying to smuggle more than four pounds (1.8 kilograms) of cocaine into Bermuda by hiding it in the frame of his wheelchair.

The jury gave a unanimous innocent verdict Thursday in the case of Patrick Joseph Scarlett, 41, from the Jamaican capital of Kingston.

Scarlett had pleaded innocent to charges of importing drugs and possession with intent to supply after arriving on an American Airlines flight from New York on October 24 last year.

Scarlett, who owns a shoe shop in Jamaica, had reportedly flown to the British overseas territory of Bermuda to drum up business.

Customs officers said they had discovered the drugs after they drilled a hole in the wheelchair and found the cocaine. An ion scan of Scarlett’s hands, bags and wheelchair tested positive for traces of cocaine.

Scarlett said his nephew had planted the cocaine while fixing a faulty wheel on the chair before the trip and had since gone on the run.

Defence lawyer, Victoria Pearman, said Scarlett did not know the drugs were in his wheelchair and that the ion scan likely came up positive from Scarlett using the wheels.

Prosecutor Anthony Blackman said for a poor man Scarlett travelled often, taking four trips to England and two to the United States in three years.