A change of plea from guilty to not guilty by a Clarendon man accused of trying to export three pounds of ganja from Jamaica to Trinidad was entered in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday after the accused pondered for a while in the dock.

Richardo McDonald is charged with possession of, dealing in, taking preparatory steps to export ganja and conspiracy.

He was offered $300,000 bail with surety with strict conditions and is to return to court on September 29 when the forensic certificate should be completed.

McDonald also had to submit his fingerprints to the police and is to report to the Mocho Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

A stop order was also effected by the court.

The court heard that on the day of the incident, the accused was about to board a Caribbean Airlines flight to the twin-island-republic when a search of his laptop bag during security checks revealed the contraband.

The accused told the court that he was unaware of the presence of the ganja in his luggage.

He explained that he had been asked to collect a bag with goods downtown prior to his flight for him to carry overseas with him for a friend.

He reiterated to the court that he was ignorant of the fact that the contraband was concealed in the bag.