A police officer told a jury that she became suspicious of the liquid inside a purported bottle of whisky during the search of an air passenger’s suitcase.

The court earlier heard that the bottle, found alongside several packages of cannabis, contained liquid cocaine worth more than $200,000.

Alexta Gill, a foreign national, has denied charges that he imported 9,472 grammes of cannabis and 800 grammes of liquid cocaine into the island in March 2023.

Earlier this week, the court heard that Mr Gill flew to the island with Jhordan George-Horsford on March 2, 2023 on a WestJet flight from Toronto.

However, one of their suitcases did not come on the flight and instead brought to the island on March 4 on an Air Canada Flight.

The bag was searched on arrival and, along with men’s clothes, customs officials noticed six heat-sealed packages wrapped in black plastic and a whisky bottle containing liquid cocaine.

Pc Denise Rodney of the Bermuda Police Service told the court that she took possession of the suitcase at the airport and took it to the police station at Southside, where she helped a forensics officer process it.

As the trial continued yesterday, she said that she became suspicious about the bottle of whisky because the contents “appeared thick”.

She accepted that packages of cannabis recovered were “weighty” when put together, and told the court that she could not recall any of the packages or the whisky bottle being tested for fingerprints.

Sergeant Milton Hill told the court that he was with Ms Rodney when the suitcase and its contents were taken from the airport terminal to Southside.

He said that when he arrived, the bricks of cannabis were on a table and not in the suitcase.

Mr Hill said that Eric Wilson, the customs officer who conducted the search that uncovered the contraband, put the objects back into the suitcase and placed clothing on top of them, stating that it was how he had found them.

Questioned about the whisky, he said that he noticed that the bottle was in a box labelled “Johnnie Walker Black”, but the bottle inside was labelled “Johnny Walker Double Black”.

Under cross-examination by Nicole Smith, for Mr Gill, Mr Hill accepted that he had not included Mr Wilson’s comment in his original police statement about the incident. “That was what I recall happening on the day,” he said.

Mr Hill also accepted that he had not personally seen how the packages were placed in the suitcase, stating: “I can only say that he said he was placing them back as he found them.”

The trial continues.

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