A SERIOUS GAME IN WHICH A LIFE MEANS NOTHING

Bermudian Awaiting Trial In St. Maarten's Drug Bust Fears For His Life

The view from the hill atop which St. Maarten's House of Detention sits is
spectacular ­ the waters of the Caribbean sparkle turquoise and navy to a
limitless horizon.

But for accused Bermudian drug runner Winston Robinson, who is entering his
fourth week of captivity behind its great, grey concrete walls the view
must be torture. He looks out onto the very waters where he was arrested by
local authorities aboard his boat the Carl Senior with five other men and
10,400 pounds of packed marijuana on June 25.

Caribbean drug running is as uncertain and danger-ridden a life as one can
imagine.

And Robinson claims he has made little to money for all the risks. What is
certain however, is that the run he was on when his boat broke down in the
territorial waters of this Dutch-governed island nation, was not his first
involvement in drug running.

Bermuda Police confirm that Robinson has been helping them with their
inquiries since his arrest.

Over the course of the recently completed Kirk Roberts trial, it emerged
that Robinson was aboard the sailboat Never Come Back when it delivered
marijuana to Roberts off Bermuda in December 2000. Roberts was convicted
one week ago today of conspiring with Alphonso Holder and others not before
the court to import cannabis ­ one of those others was Winston Robinson.

The Crown star witness against Roberts and Holder, Never Come Back's German
captain Heinz (Henry) Golembeck, described Robinson as a "horny old
bastard" he had been sailing with for months in a letter he passed to
Roberts along with the drugs on that run. The court heard during that trial
that Golembeck and Robinson scoured the Caribbean for the drugs on that run
while supported financially by Roberts. They were ripped off for $72,000 in
Antigua, sent on the trial of the wrong drug (cocaine) in Nevis, and lost
an arranged purchase to Police when a boat meeting them was picked up by
the Coast Guard off Haiti before they were eventually successful in
purchasing marijuana for Roberts in St. Vincent.

Painting his picture of Robinson, Alphonso Holder ­ the Vincentian man
convicted with Roberts ­ testified that he did not think the tall, white
man who sailed with Golembeck, he and the drugs from St. Vincent to Bermuda
could have been Robinson.

"I think Winston Robinson is a black man," he said in court. "It's a
black's man's name." Those who have seen him more recently will confirm he
is a white man ­ "he looks a bit like Robinson Crusoe", The Royal Gazette
was told.

Unfortunately, St. Maarten authorities refused to grant The Royal Gazette
permission to interview Robinson.

While journalists are occasionally given access to prisoners in this Dutch
territory of 32,000 people, Chief Prosecutor Cor Merx categorically denied
our request.

Drugs alleged to have come from Colombia

Under local laws, Robinson can be held in prison for 106 days before his is
tried in the Island's Court of First Instance. During this time, Police
will continue to build the case against him and the five other accused
smugglers.

They are charged with transporting and attempting to import marijuana to
St. Maarten. But few believe the drugs on board, said to have originated in
Colombia, were destined here where they carry a street value of less than
$2 million. Like countless other drug shipments which cross this region
after leaving South America, they were probably intended for the more
lucrative markets of Europe and the United States. In Bermuda the drugs
would carry a street value of nearly $200 million.

Despite Robinson's relatively advanced age, he is unlikely to receive and
pity from a local jury in trial ­ there isn't one. His fate will be decided
by a single judge during a trial expected in early September.

Luckily for the accused traffickers however, the Netherlands Antilles
shares the same attitude to marijuana as its colonial power. Marijuana is
considered a soft drug.

"His sentence will be lighter than if it has been cocaine, crack or
heroine, Mr. Merx said.

Robinson is facing a sentence of between four and 20 years. He will be
deported after he completes his sentence but The Royal Gazette was told the
former Mangrove Bay man has absolutely no desire to return to Bermuda and
hopes to join family living in Australia. His boat has already been
confiscated and torn apart. Robinson claims, however, that it does not
actually belong to him and he is merely a front for another man.

Looking at the dilapidated wooden fishing vessel Carl Senior, it is
difficult to believe 150 bales of marijuana and six men could actually fit
aboard.

It is difficult to believe anyone would set out on an Atlantic crossing on
it but in November 2000 it was sailed from the eastern seaboard of the
United States to the British Virgin Islands where it was registered in
Robinson's name and he obtained a licence to operate it in the territory's
waters.

By that time however, Robinson and the Carl Senior had already caught the
attention of law enforcement officials in the Caribbean and Bermuda. Police
have been watching and waiting for two years. On June 25, they got their
break. Carl Senior broke down 40 miles off St. Maarten and a Dutch navy
frigate responded to their radio distress call. The boat reportedly ran out
of gas, but Robinson has stringently denied this version of the
circumstances of his arrest.

The 10,400 pounds of marijuana aboard were burned just one day later. The
volume of the drug was so high local authorities had to make special
arrangements for its destruction. The commonly used site could not
accommodate them and the drugs had to be taken to the Philipsburg dump
where they were burned as heavily armed guards protected the area.

Mr. Merx told The Royal Gazette local authorities confiscated drugs are
destroyed immediately out of fear related dealers will try and forcefully
take back their lost loot. "These drugs are worth a lot of money," he said.

Meanwhile, the Carl Senior ­ which Robinson claims is his only worldly
possession ­ sits in a private St. Maarten boatyard. Mr. Merx asked that
The Royal Gazette not reveal the name for security reasons.

And Robinson sits in prison, among a myriad of languages he doesn't
understand and is reportedly consumed with fear for his life.

"In this scene a life means nothing," Mr. Merx said. "Drug smuggling is a
very serious