A jury heard closing statements in a case about $300,000 of cannabis discovered hidden in an ottoman.

While prosecutors said the actions of Melvin Simmons and Kanhai Armstrong demonstrated their guilt, counsel for the defendants said there was no evidence the men knew about the cannabis.

Mr Simmons and Mr Armstrong have both denied charges that they conspired with others to import cannabis into Bermuda and sell the controlled drug on an unknown date before August 5, 2020.

The court previously heard that 11 heat-sealed 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.

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

The package was collected from Best Shipping by Mr Simmons on August 10 and the ottoman was later found torn open at the Tynes Bay tipping area.

Daniel Kitson-Walters, for the Crown, said the actions of both defendants showed that they were involved in a plot to import and distribute the cannabis.

He said that Mr Armstrong’s phone was found to have messages directly correlating to the package including the name of the recipient and a New Jersey address linked to the package.

“It is evidence from which you can feel sure that Kanhai Armstrong was in discussions with persons in Bermuda and in the US regarding the importation of this package into Bermuda,” Mr Kitson-Walters said.

He added that the messages were found in the phone’s unallocated space, which suggested that they had been deleted.

Mr Kitson-Walters said that Mr Armstrong left the island the same day that the package was collected and returned nine months later, but told officers when he was arrested that he had been off island for five years.

Regarding Mr Simmons, the Crown said his version of events did not add up.

Mr Kitson-Walters questioned why he would leave Mr Armstrong at his work parking lot to pick up a package for him and why he had no questions about disposing of the contents so soon after collecting it.

He asked: “If this is a legitimate package that some one has genuinely messed up, what’s the next logical thing to do after spending almost $300 to clear it, which doesn’t include the cost of the item?

“Is it to call Best Shipping? Is it to call overseas? Mr Simmons told you that he didn’t hear any calls to anybody.”

He said that only 44 minutes passed between when Mr Simmons collected the package on August 10 and when he threw it away at Tynes Bay.

Mr Kitson-Walters also questioned why Mr Simmons put bags of sand from the package in the company warehouse and why he attempted to get access to the warehouse the evening he was released from custody.

However, Elizabeth Christopher, counsel for Mr Simmons, said there was no evidence that her client had any idea what was in the package when he picked it up — noting that he made no effort to hide his identity.

“The fact that my client went and showed his face, and the fact that they knew who he was, is further proof he didn’t know what was going on,” she said.

She added: “There is no evidence to suggest that Melvin knew if he did what he was asked to do that he would be involved in an unlawful act.”

Ms Christopher said video evidence in the case backed up her client’s version of events and, while he did attempt to return to the warehouse after he was terminated, he explained he was attempting to collect his tools.

She added that it would make no sense for him to attempt to collect the sand bags, as suggested by the Crown.

“By the time he left the police station, he knew what those sandbags were about,” she said.

Ms Christopher emphasised that there was no evidence of any involvement by Mr Simmons on or before August 5, when the conspiracy was alleged to have taken place.

“What did he agree to? To collect a piece of furniture, an ottoman,” she said. “He has to know there’s cannabis in this box, an agreement to bring in a box is not the same thing as an agreement to bring in cannabis.

“Moving a box is not a criminal offence, nor is it a criminal offence to do a hustle.”

Marc Daniels, counsel for Mr Armstrong, meanwhile suggested the Crown had attempted to create a narrative with scraps of evidence without context.

He said although a message was found on Mr Armstrong’s phone dating back to June 2020 with details that matched the package, cannabis was not mentioned anywhere in the more than 24,000 pages of messages recovered from his phone, nor were there any references to an ottoman.

“There is no reasonable indication of Mr Armstrong having a plan to import and supply drugs at all,” he said.

“There’s no evidence that he wanted an ottoman for himself or for some one else.

“There’s no evidence that Mr Armstrong knew an ottoman was being shipped to the island, no evidence that he knew there was cannabis shipped inside the ottoman.”

Mr Daniels also noted that his client left the island the same day the package was collected, asking what he could do with $300,000 of cannabis in the hours before he left Bermuda.

Mr Daniels will continue his closing statement today.

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