A man accused of a drugs plot was the same person who collected a package found to contain cannabis, a witness told the Supreme Court.

Melvin Simmons and Kanhai Armstrong have both denied charges that they conspired with others to import cannabis into Bermuda and sell the controlled drug.

The offences were alleged to have taken place between an unknown date and August 5, 2020.

The court previously heard that 11 packages of plantlike material were found by customs officers on that date, hidden inside an ottoman shipped to the island under the name “Calvin Wade”.

The packages were found to contain a total of 6,167.6g of cannabis, which could fetch as much as $308,000 if sold on the streets of Bermuda.

However, after the drugs were removed, the ottoman was put back into its box and returned to customs.

As the trial continued yesterday, the court heard evidence from Amber Lopes, who at the time was a customer service and billing agent for Best Shipping.

She told the court that on August 3 of that year she received a customs release for the “Calvin Wade” package, which arrived on the island days earlier on July 29 on board the Bermuda Islander.

Ms Lopes said that she sent a copy of the invoice and other documents to a yahoo.com e-mail address linked to the customer account.

She said that on the morning of August 10, Mr Simmons attended Best Shipping with an envelope containing both the invoice and $269.39 in cash to pay for the package.

Ms Lopes said that while she did not know Mr Simmons personally, she recognised him because he worked nearby.

She also identified Mr Simmons as the person who collected the package and carried it to a van before driving away in the vehicle.

Under cross-examination by Elizabeth Christopher, counsel for Mr Simmons, Ms Lopes said that while the defendant wore a face mask when he entered the building, he pulled it down his face while there.

A CCTV recording from the office appeared to show Mr Simmons with his mask down below his chin, talking and waving to individuals not seen in the footage.

She agreed that Mr Simmons was not trying to hide his identity and accepted that she told police he was a “flirt”. She explained: “He was just nice when he talked to you.”

Ms Lopes also confirmed that the same “Calvin Wade” account used to import the ottoman had been used to bring other items into the country.

She said that a package had arrived that July, which was signed for by someone named “Aaron Jones”, while other packages were shipped to the island in February and April 2019.

The trial is set to continue next week.

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