The opening day of a cocaine trafficking trial heard that $6 million worth was being smuggled in pineapple juice bottles shipped to Costa's Wine Country in Hamilton in December 2015.

Court heard the accusation from Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Roy in an opening statement at the trial of Costa's Wine owners Jose (Joe) and Erika Costa, and Reilly's 2000 Wholesale Foods owner Tullio Dintino.

The three are on trial on charges of trafficking in cocaine, importing it from Costa Rica, and conspiring to traffic and import cocaine.

Roy said the cocaine is worth around $6 million in Canada, adding "These people knew exactly what they were bringing in."

Roy's opening on Monday also contained facts agreed to by the defence lawyers.

Those facts were that on Dec. 18, 2015 Canadian Borders Services Agency (CBSA) officers in Halifax tested some bottles or jugs in a shipping container from Costa Rica for possible cocaine. The container had 1,128 boxes each containing four 3.78 litre-jugs of pineapple juice and pulp.

When the results came back positive, a full inspection ensued, leading the RCMP to estimate 1,440 bottles contained cocaine — 129 were actually tested — and the whole shipment contained 100 kilograms of cocaine.

The juice was being imported by Costa's Wine Country at 181 Cannon St. E., near Ferguson Avenue North.

CBSA officers were able to identify the bottles suspected of containing cocaine by shaking the bottles and seeing the contents foam and bubble. Those without cocaine did not bubble.

The CBSA and the Halifax RCMP replaced the juice bottles with cocaine with water bottles and repacked the container before it was sent to Toronto by rail and trucked to Hamilton.

RCMP Const. Lucio De Simone testified he was notified by the Canadian Border Services Agency in Halifax that a shipment of pineapple juice that went through customs there and was bound for Hamilton, was found to have cocaine in a number of the bottles.

De Simone was also part of police surveillance on the three accused and on Dec. 30, 2015, he captured video of Jose Costa and Dintino unloading the truck containing the shipment.