A 57-year-old man was caught attempting to board a British Airways flight at the Norman Manley International Airport with cocaine will be sentenced today.

On August 27, Hugh Rose, a British citizen for more than 21 years, was on his way to London, England, when he was suspected by security officials to be carrying drugs.

Rose volunteered to do a urine test and the test came back positive for cocaine. He was admitted to the Kingston Public Hospital where he expelled a total of 36 pellets of cocaine weighing 7.48 ounces.

When he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Wed-nesday on charges of possession, dealing in cocaine and attempting to export cocaine, he was remanded .

Rose told the court that he wants to apologise for his behaviour and commented: "I was desperate and in need." He also told the court that a friend had asked him to take the cocaine to London.