An alleged drug smuggler accepted during his trial at the Supreme Court that police had caught him in lies — before he made up a story that depicted him as an unwilling participant in a drug plot.

Under continued cross-examination yesterday, Alexta Gill accepted that he had given police officers conflicting stories about his movements and a damaged suitcase, before claiming that he had agreed to bring drugs into Bermuda in response to death threats.

While prosecutors suggested that the story was rooted in truth, Mr Gill said he had made up the story in an effort to be released from custody.

Khadija Beddeau, for the Crown, put to the defendant: “When you told the police about agreeing to bring these drugs to Bermuda, that was the truth.

“That’s why you were able to sit and provide information for 59 minutes. There was truth for you to build that story on.”

Mr Gill responded: “That was no truth to that story.”

He told the court that his head had been “cloudy” during the interview, with a lot of things running through his mind.

Mr Gill said that at no point did he admit that he was guilty of a crime.

He accepted that if the story had been true, he would have had ample time to go to the police about the threats made against him before travelling to Bermuda.

The court heard that Mr Gill arrived on the island with Jhordan George-Horsford on a flight from Toronto on March 2, but one of their suitcases missed the flight and arrived two days later.

A search of the bag revealed six “bricks” of plant material later confirmed to be 9,472.6 grams of cannabis, and a bottle of whiskey, which was found to contain liquid cocaine, from which 812.4g of the controlled drug was extracted.

Mr Gill was arrested and, during a police interview, said that he had agreed to bring a suitcase to the island for someone named “Andre” to clear a debt after receiving death threats.

On Monday, he told the jury that he had made up the story in an effort to get bail because he did not think officers believed his previous statements that he knew nothing about the drugs.

Under continued questioning by Ms Beddeau, Mr Gill was challenged about his story of how he left the airport on March 2, 2023.

Mr Gill had told the court he was approached by a man outside the airport after a taxi driver said that the Fourways Restaurant and Inn was too far for him to travel.

He said that the taxi had pulled up as he stepped out of the airport and that while there were other taxis, their drivers were either inside the airport or helping other travellers.

Mr Gill added that he had not travelled by taxi previously, and that when the unknown man approached him from the short-term parking area, he approached him in the street, “meeting him in the middle”.

Ms Beddeau said: “So you were in a foreign country after 8pm, first time taking a taxi, an unknown man shouting at you comes over and you came to him?”

He said the man, whose name he could not remember, took them to Ice Queen, waited 40 to 50 minutes for them to get and eat their food, exchanged money for them, helped him when his suitcase broke and supplied a replacement.

Mr Gill said that he did not discuss the cost of the trip before getting into the man’s private vehicle, but paid him “about $50” after they reached the Fourways.

He was also questioned about a photograph of the items found in his suitcase that appeared to show an item with a BF&M logo.

Mr Gill has said he had not been to Bermuda previously and did not know anyone on the island.

“I have never seen this until I looked at the picture,” he said. “It’s not mine. I don’t know where it came from.”

The trial continues.

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