A drug smuggler who plotted to bring $6 million of cannabis into Bermuda in a shipment of steel has been jailed.

Darrin Virgil, of Warwick, was sentenced to serve ten years in prison for his involvement in the operation at court yesterday.

The 29-year-old was found guilty of conspiracy to import and supply the drugs after a two-month trial last month.

A second man, Brian Anderson, 52, of Hamilton Parish, admitted helping to move the drugs once they had arrived in Bermuda and was sentenced to three years behind bars.

The drugs haul was uncovered on November 26, 2012, when customs officers processing the cargo of the MV Oleander ran an X-ray of a container with several steel sheets and noticed a series of rectangular objects hidden inside.

A few days later, on November 29, police mounted a surveillance operation on the container as it was delivered to the Abbott’s Cliff area of Hamilton Parish.

Officers later discovered that hidden inside the steel sheets was 119kg of cannabis, with an estimated street value of more than $5.9 million.

According to prosecutors, Virgil was responsible for recruiting Anderson into the scheme to smuggle the huge haul of cannabis into Bermuda.

He made contact with the Canadian supplier, organised the clearance through Bermuda Customs and the delivery of the drugs to Abbott’s Cliff.

Virgil also arranged to have the steel plates opened and then had the plates delivered to a local garage.

Yesterday, Virgil and Anderson, neither of whom had any previous convictions, were sentenced at Supreme Court by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves.

Prosecutor Takiyah Burgess told the court that both defendants committed the offences for their “own personal gain.”

She added: “The evidence suggested that this was not an isolated incident, but part of an ongoing operation which was halted by the interception of these drugs by police.”