By KRYSTEL ROLLE, Guardian Staff Reporter

Two Bahamian men wanted on drug trafficking charges in The Bahamas were charged with illegal entry in a Jamaican magistrate's court earlier this week, local authorities confirmed yesterday.

According to Superintendent Anthony Ferguson, head of the Bahamas Drug Enforcement Unit, the men, Ian Porter of Star Estates, and Marvin Reckley, 38, of Gladstone Road, were on bail when they "skipped" to Jamaica. Up to yesterday, they were still being held by Jamaican immigration officials, he said.

Porter and Reckley reportedly appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court in Jamaica on Tuesday.

According to Jamaican media, the court was told that immigration officials had no records of their entry, despite their presence in the country.

The lawyer representing the men reportedly asked Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown not to keep the men in a Jamaican jail.

Porter and Reckley were discharged and ordered to leave the country.

Both men are on bail for drug trafficking charges in New Providence. A warrant was issued in July for Reckley's arrest when he failed to show up for his trial in the Supreme Court in connection with the seizure of cocaine and about $1 million at an apartment on Carmichael Road. He also has a pending firearm case.

Porter, nicknamed "Irie" and "Tricks", is on bail after being charged in connection with a major marijuana seizure off Marshall Road.

According to police reports, drug squad officers arrested Porter along with two other men on Marshall Road in a white Chevrolet Astro van on March 24, 2006. Police allegedly found 20 crocus sacks filled with marijuana, which had a wholesale street value of $921,000. Porter pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Both cases are still pending before Magistrate Carolita Bethel.

The men are both expected to appear before Magistrate Bethel on Monday.

Superintendent Ferguson told The Guardian yesterday that as soon as Jamaican authorities are finished with the men they will be transported back to The Bahamas.

He said it will be up to the court to determine whether they will face further charges for breaking the conditions of their bail.

"We're in communication with the Jamaican authorities," Ferguson said. "Right now this is an immigration matter over there."