The trial of four men accused of bringing almost $6 million of cannabis to the Island hidden in steel sheets approached its conclusion yesterday.

John Jefferis, 39, Darrin Virgil, 29, and brothers Corte and Iman Gibbons, 47 and 39 respectively, have denied conspiring to import the controlled drug to the Island.

Originally seven men and one woman were charged in connection to the incident, however Brian Anderson pleaded guilty in the midst of the trial and three other defendants — Dina Tucker, Damon Edwards and Shannon Trott — were each found not guilty after Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict them.

During the nearly two-month trial, the jury heard that on November 26, 2012, customs officers processing cargo of the Oleander x-rayed a container with several steel sheets and noticed a series of rectangular objects hidden inside.

Days later, on November 29, police watched as the container was delivered to the Abbot’s Cliff area of Hamilton Parish. An officer testified that as the truck approached the area, Mr Jefferis waved down the vehicle.

He said Mr Jefferis spoke to the driver, after which the truck driver turned around and went into a field where the container was detached with Mr Jefferis’ help. Later that afternoon, several other men and a crane truck arrived at the scene and began to unload the container.

The court heard later that officers stopped the crane truck in the Parson’s Road area, and the driver directed them to a property on Lime House Lane, which contained G&D Auto and the home of both Corte and Iman Gibbons.

The officers attended the scene, where they found the steel plates and several men, including the four remaining defendants.

Officers later discovered that hidden inside the steel sheets was 119kg of cannabis, with an estimated street value of more than $5.9 million.

During a police interview, Mr Virgil said he had been working at Swandell Steel when he was contacted by a Mr Ingham about importing steel sheets. While he said he attended the Abbot’s Cliff area to help unload the shipment, he claimed to have no knowledge of the drugs inside the sheets.

Corte Gibbons told police that he worked at G&D Auto and that several days before the incident he was approached by Mr Virgil, who he identified as “Triumph”, about potentially cutting metal for him.

When the plates were delivered, he said he was inside his house eating and didn’t help with the offloading. Iman Gibbons meanwhile said he was working at a barber shop on the day of the delivery, and when he returned home he saw Mr Virgil, who spoke to him about storing the steel at the garage. Both of the brothers said they knew nothing about the drugs. Mr Jefferis was also interviewed by officers, however the court heard that when the officer went to switch disks the defendant reportedly grabbed the disk which contained the interview and broke it, saying: “Let’s do this again.”

The officer however made notes of the interview, in which he said Mr Jefferis identified himself as “Mr Security” and declined to give his date of birth because, as he had been told, it would technically be hearsay.

The officer testified that Mr Jefferis said he was in the area when he saw the truck parking on his property. He confronted the driver, who told him that he had been instructed by Mr Ingham to leave the container there.

While Mr Jefferis said he did not know Mr Ingham or the driver, he didn’t think anything of it because people often left containers on the property and helped the driver offload the container as a good samaritan. He later helped the crane truck driver and several other men load its contents.

He also stated that he knew nothing about the drugs hidden within the steel sheets.

The matter is expected to go to the jury on Monday for a verdict.