Two men accused of drug trafficking were cleared of all charges yesterday.

Kanhai Armstrong, 39, and Melvin Simmons, 53, were found not guilty of conspiracy to import and sell more than $300,000 of cannabis into Bermuda.

The jury reached their decision after about four hours of deliberation.

The men could be seen wiping tears from their eyes and giving their thanks after they were released.

Mr Armstrong and Mr Simmons 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.

During the Supreme Court trial, a jury 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.

Prosecutors said CCTV footage from Bermuda Air Conditioning showed the defendants on the morning of August 10 before and after Mr Simmons collected the package.

In the portion of footage after the collection, Mr Armstrong was seen to get into the back of Mr Simmons’s van and shut the door behind him before emerging a short time later.

The jury were also shown evidence of deleted text messages on Mr Armstrong’s phone which contained details of the package, including the name “Calvin Wade” and a New Jersey address associated with the package.

Mr Simmons told the court that, on August 7, Mr Armstrong asked him to collect a piece of furniture for a member of his family and provided him the required paperwork and exact change.

He said that he did not see what Mr Armstrong did in the back of the van but he heard the sound of cardboard ripping.

Mr Simmons said Mr Armstrong subsequently told him that the package was not what he had ordered and asked him to get rid of it.

He agreed that he thought the request was strange, but nevertheless he took the box to Tynes Bay, where he dumped it.

Prosecutors argued that the actions of the defendants proved they were aware and involved in the plot to import the drugs.

However, both defendants denied any knowledge of the contents of the package.

Elizabeth Christopher, counsel for Mr Simmons, said her client made no effort to hide his identity when collecting the package and the CCTV footage supported his version of events.

“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, said that there was nothing on his phone referencing either cannabis or an ottoman, but there was a reference to a queen bed set frame.

He said there was nothing unusual about looking at a recently received package to confirm its contents, or asking for it to be thrown away if it was not what was ordered.

“We don’t live in America where you can have UPS pick it up that afternoon and take it back,” he said.

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