A landscaper on trial over his alleged role in a plot to extract nearly 300kg of imported cocaine from an excavator told his business partner "we got no cash, man, no money" before the drug-filled digger arrived in Australia.
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Queanbeyan man Timothy John Engstrom, 38, made that comment in June 2019, when police had his phone tapped ahead of the excavator being delivered to his Bungendore business.
Recordings of several intercepted phone calls were played to a Downing Centre District Court jury on Wednesday, which was the second day of Engstrom's trial on a federal drugs charge.
Engstrom has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
He is accused of committing that crime in concert with close friend Adam Phillip Hunter, 37, with whom he co-owned Bungendore Landscape Supplies.
When Engstrom's trial began on Tuesday, jurors heard the business was in financial strife when authorities at the Australian border intercepted an excavator addressed to the landscaping yard.
It is not in dispute that when the machine was examined upon its arrival in this country from South Africa, its arm contained about 276kg of pure cocaine.
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However, Engstrom denies knowing what was in the machine, or being reckless about the fact it contained imported drugs, before police raided the business to arrest him and Hunter in July 2019.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Adam McGrath read to the jury a series of agreed facts.
These included that ANZ had approved a personal loan of $30,150 for Engstrom in May 2019, and that the accused had subsequently transferred nearly all of this to the business' account.
The business subsequently purchased the excavator from a South African company.
Mr McGrath, who claims Engstrom's alleged offending was motivated by the business' financial woes, went on to play audio of the intercepted phone calls.
The first of these was recorded five days before the digger arrived in Australia.
"We got no cash, man, no money," Engstrom told Hunter in this call.
The pair also discussed living in "desperate times", which they resolved to push through.
In another call, which took place two days after the excavator reached Australia, Engstrom asked Hunter for "any news on that other bits and pieces".
When Hunter indicated it was "all good", Engstrom replied: "F--- yeah."
"So it's through?" Engstrom asked.
Hunter responded: "Oh, you could say that."
A few days on, Engstrom again quizzed Hunter over the phone about whether there was "any news on the big girl".
Eight intercepted calls were played before Judge Gina O'Rourke SC adjourned for the day. She asked the jury to return on Thursday, when the trial continues.
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