Andrew John Connors, 37, was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine and went on trial in the ACT Supreme Court on Monday.

Connors was arrested after police searched a car in Canberra's west and found 24 plastic bags filled with ice hidden in three separate parts of the car in October 2014.

The bags contained a combined total of more than 28kg of ice worth an estimated $5.7 million, the court heard.

It's alleged Connors had discussed a proposed drug run from Canberra to Melbourne with another man in the weeks before the ice was uncovered.

In his opening submissions, Crown prosecutor Trent Hickey said there seemed to be no issue Connors' co-accused had trafficked the drug, and the case would hinge on whether there had been an agreement between the pair to traffic the ice.

The court heard Connors' defence team would argue there was no evidence indicating any conversations between Connors and his co-offender that would suggest such an agreement had been reached.

His defence barrister told the court there were no conversations, calls, text messages or emails between the accused and anyone else allegedly involved in the crime between the alleged meeting and the time the drugs had been passed on.

He acknowledged while there were a number of "suspicious aspects" to the incident, Connors was not involved in the alleged offending in the way argued by the Crown.

One witness, whose name was suppressed, told the court Connors' co-accused had phoned one morning in October to ask if he could come to his house, explaining when both of them arrived he needed to do some work on his car.

Not long after Connors and his co-accused arrived at the house they went to the witness's garage, where he saw the co-accused and another man unpack four large plastic containers from the man's ute parked outside.

He recalled seeing the co-accused put the drug-filled tubs on the garage floor next to his car and move the mudguard as Connors stood near the vehicle.

The witness, who had been friends with both men for several years, noticed the containers were filled with vacuum-sealed bags full of what looked like broken glass.

When he questioned what was happening, he recalled one of the men said: "Just relax."

"I remember saying, 'What's going on, what's this?', and they said, 'Mate, don't worry about it'," he said.

The witness gave evidence he'd asked Connors' co-accused if the substance packed into the boxes was ice and he'd said it was.

He said Connors was "just trying to calm me down", while the co-accused told him to be quiet and stop stressing.

"I was obviously anxious and worried and upset," he said.

"I was just sort of scattered. I couldn't believe what was happening."

The trial, before Justice Richard Refshauge, continues on Tuesday.