A Canadian national caught at LF Wade International Airport attempting to smuggle in cannabis potentially worth $1.38 million on the island’s streets has been jailed for 6½ years at the Supreme Court.

Defence lawyer Ashley Fubler told the sentencing hearing yesterday that Michael McKenna, 54, on remand since July 2025, had been “living rough, of no fixed abode” in Toronto.

The former chef was said to have “battled” against drug addiction for more than three years before he agreed to come to Bermuda on the Air Canada flight, bringing a suitcase found to contain 13.88kg of cannabis.

Ms Fubler added that McKenna, who had previously lived for decades with his wife and disabled son, ended up owing money to drug dealers — “the same persons who sent him on the trip to Bermuda”.

The court heard that after customs officials discovered the drugs and police officers attended the airport, McKenna said: “Somebody offered me the f***ing suitcase. They said, we’ll pay for your trip. I don’t even know how much money I was going to get this weekend.”

McKenna added: “I was set up as a mule. It’s worked for those people; it hasn’t worked for me. Now I’m screwed.”

Ms Fubler and Crown counsel Adley Duncan made a joint submission before Puisne Judge Alan Richards suggesting six years’ imprisonment.

Both highlighted McKenna’s lack of previous convictions and relatively early guilty plea, at the November arraignments, to charges of importing of cannabis as well as possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

They called for the sentences to be served concurrently, with time spent in custody included.

Mr Duncan said McKenna arrived as a visitor on a Toronto flight last year on July 13, telling Bermudian immigration officials that he planned to stay on the island for seven days at a guesthouse.

He claimed a suitcase tagged with his name, which the airline had marked as heavy. It appeared new.

At a secondary customs inspection, McKenna denied being asked to bring anything into Bermuda, including drugs, but an X-ray scan of the suitcase revealed anomalous contents.

After McKenna gave the code to unlock the case, officers found 33 heat-sealed clear plastic packages containing a green plantlike substance, which were “plainly visible” among a few clothes items.

Questioned about the luggage by customs officials, McKenna sat on the floor in the inspection area and told them: “I have no idea — I didn’t pack the suitcase.”

The packages turned out to contain nearly 14kg of cannabis.

Ms Fubler told the court that McKenna had been under “significant underlying pressure that influenced his actions”, ending with “a foolish plot that was bound to fail”.

Mr Justice Richards responded: “I wonder about that. People keep doing it — if people keep doing it, sometimes it must succeed.”

Delivering his ruling, Mr Justice Richards said: “These were not sophisticated offences. No significant effort had been made by whoever packed them to conceal them inside the case.”

He told McKenna: “You are therefore what is known colloquially as a drug mule. It is not unusual for such persons to be financially disadvantaged and of prior good character. Sadly, those involved tend to select such persons to carry drugs for them.”

Since “at least some importations no more sophisticated than this one must succeed”, he said the court was obliged to impose sentences that sent a message of deterrence to others.

McKenna was told an appropriate sentence after a trial would have been ten years’ imprisonment.

However, taking into account the entitled discount for his guilty pleas, McKenna was given 6½ years on each count, to be served concurrently, with time in custody taken into account.

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