A man accused of smuggling guns and cannabis into the island told police he knew nothing about the contents of a crate delivered to his house.

In a series of police interviews played in the Supreme Court, Jonah Smith said he believed the only reason he was involved was because others knew he had access to tools for his work as a plumber.

“I gave them the tool,” he said. “That’s it. I couldn’t lend it out because it wasn’t my drill. It was my job’s drill. That’s how I got introduced to all this mess.”

Mr Smith has denied charges that he conspired with others to import more than seven kilograms of cannabis, two firearms and 24 rounds of ammunition between an unknown date and September 24, 2024.

Earlier this week, the court heard that the contraband was discovered in a wooden crate shipped to the island after customs officers noticed irregularities in an X-ray.

Police subsequently discovered 33 packages of compressed plant material, two handguns and ammunition hidden in a false bottom.

The drugs and weapons were removed and the crate was subsequently picked up on September 30, 2024 and delivered by truck to the Southampton home where Mr Smith lived with his family.

Police arrived at the home soon after where they found Mr Smith with an electric drill in his hand next to another man, Taijuan Davis, who fled the scene.

The court heard that there were two more men in the truck, neither of whom have been charged with any offences.

Davis was arrested in connection with the offence, along with Malachai Paynter, and both have pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the plot.

Davis was said to be the mastermind and financier, while Paynter organised the shipping of the crate with his name and address included in shipping documents.

In an interview recorded the day after his arrest, Mr Smith told the officers that he had spent the day working at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute installing drainage pipes and that the truck was there with the crate when he arrived.

“They needed a power tool and that’s all it was,” he said. “I didn’t run. I didn’t think I had any reason to. Now I’m here.”

He declined to identify the others who were there, but denied that he was involved in gang activity or that he would ever have drugs or firearms sent to his grandmother’s house.

“I would never do that. When the police showed up I was wondering why they showed up,” he said. “Then everybody just tried to disperse and I was there. It was my house.”

In a second interview conducted the next day, he said he had gone to Davis’s house to deliver the drill and had planned on staying there while he had used it, but found out when he got there Davis was not home.

He said that he left the car there and walked the short distance home because the vehicle was “on its way out” and would not always start.

Mr Smith said he had no idea what the contents of the crate were, although he saw what he believed to be a washing machine inside.

He told police that he did help them start to dismantle the crate because he was familiar with the power tool.

“I started it,” he said. “I don’t know which one of them was actually using the drill, but I did use the drill first. I cannot honestly say that I didn’t.”

The jury was also shown body camera footage of one of the officers who arrested Mr Smith.

The recording showed Mr Smith and Davis standing to the rear of a white van near part of a wooden crate while a third man stood in the bed of the truck.

While Davis fled the scene, Mr Smith complied with instructions and told the officer: “I ain’t going anywhere. I live here.”

The trial continues.

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