The Supreme Court heard how two guns and more than seven kilograms of cannabis were found in a crate as the trial of a man accused of plotting their importation began.

Jonah Smith, 27, from Southampton, has denied allegations that he conspired to import firearms, ammunition and cannabis into the island.

The offences were said to have occurred between an unknown date and September 24, 2024.

Karim Nelson, for the Crown, told the court that on that date, a wooden crate arrived as part of a shipment at the Hamilton docks addressed to Malachi Paynter.

On September 26, customs officers processing arriving cargo scanned the crate and identified “irregularities”.

These included what appeared to be several oval-shaped packages and objects resembling two firearms.

Police were contacted and the crate was opened and found to contain a television, a dryer and a set of weights.

However, the crate was also found to have a false bottom, under which the officers discovered 33 oblong plastic-wrapped packages, which contained compressed plant material.

The contents of the packages were confirmed to be slightly over 7,300g of cannabis.

Another package was found to contain a FN Herstal Five-Seven pistol and a Ruger EC9 pistol, along with a total of 24 rounds of ammunition.

Mr Nelson said the contraband was seized, removed and replaced with dummy packages, while the crate was repacked and given back to customs for a “controlled delivery”.

“They allowed that crate to go to its intended destination in order for them to seek who the persons were who brought this into the country,” he said.

On September 30, the package was picked up by a trucker and driven to Mr Smith’s house.

“The police followed,” Mr Nelson said. “They got to the house and they arrived there just in time to see the defendant with an electric drill.

“He had previously moved his car out of his yard to make room for the truck to come into his yard.

“The truck backed up into his yard, they took out the crate, they took out the legitimate items — the TV, the weights and the dryer — put those items back on the truck and left the crate on the ground. There, they proceeded to dismantle the crate.”

The court heard that police arrested Mr Smith, but another man in the yard, identified as Taijuan Davis, fled the area on foot, leaving a phone and one shoe behind.

Mr Nelson said that, when interviewed by the police, Mr Smith told officers that he had no knowledge of the drugs or the firearms.

“He said his friend Davis called him and told him he wanted to borrow his drill,” Mr Nelson said.

“He said because the drill didn’t belong to him personally — it belonged to his employer — he didn’t want to lend out the drill, so he allowed him to come to his house and he used the drill to help him break down the crate, but he didn’t know anything at all about any drugs, any ammunition or any gun.

“You will be called upon to decide what speaks louder — his actions or his words.”

Mr Nelson said that police were able to access the phone dropped by Davis and uncovered a series of messages relating to the importation of the drugs and the weapons.

The court heard that Davis and Paynter were arrested in connection to the offence and have pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the plot.

Mr Nelson, reading out a set of agreed facts, told the court that Davis was the mastermind of the plot, funding the purchase of the drugs and organising the construction a crate with a false bottom.

Paynter, meanwhile, flew to Jacksonville, Florida, on September 4 with $9,500 in cash, which he used to purchase the crate’s contents and organised to have it shipped to the island.

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