A Supreme Court jury heard how a drug dog led officers to the suitcase of a foreign national accused of smuggling cannabis.

Ngongo-Eric Sampassa, 32, from Ottawa, Ontario, has denied charges that he imported cannabis into the island on March 11, 2023.

He has further denied an allegation that he possessed cannabis with intent to supply on the same date.

As his trial began in the Supreme Court yesterday, K9 officer Malcolm Martin told the court that on the day of the incident, he was on duty at LF Wade International Airport with a drug-sniffing dog named Zorro.

At about 12.15pm, he said, Zorro indicated towards a large hard-cased suitcase on the baggage carousel moving towards the arrivals hall.

“There was a name on the name tag,” he said. “I don’t know how to say it or spell it out properly.”

Mr Martin said that after he took note of the bag, he put it back on the carousel and went into the arrivals hall to see who retrieved it.

He then went to another customs officer, Antonio Madeiros, and told him that the dog had singled out the suitcase

Mr Martin said he did not recall noticing a smell of cannabis coming from the baggage.

Mr Madeiros told the court that he recalled Mr Martin approach him and indicate Mr Sampassa, who had entered the green channel in a sign that he had nothing to declare.

“I referred him to secondary for further inspection,” he said, adding that Mr Sampassa complied.

A few minutes later, he said, he went towards the secondary search area and noticed a smell of cannabis as he passed Mr Sampassa and his suitcase.

He said he asked Mr Sampassa if he smoked cannabis, to which he responded: “No, but my friends do.”

Mr Madeiros said: “At that point I looked to the customs officer and said there was a sort of odour coming from his bag, left the counter area and returned to the control point.”

Later that day, Mr Madeiros said, he took part in a personal search of Mr Sampassa, which revealed nothing of interest to the investigation.

Under cross-examination from Marc Daniels, counsel for Mr Sampassa, Mr Madeiros said he could not be sure if the cannabis odour came from the defendant or his suitcase as the defendant was next to the bag when he noticed the smell.

He denied a suggestion that he was embellishing his version of events, and he was not aware if other officers had reported the smell.

“I have been around a lot of drug seizures,” he said. “You get to know the smell of cannabis.”

The trial continues.

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