An Essex drug dealer who hid 26 wraps of Class A drugs in his bottom has been jailed.

Officers strip searched Perry Bohm at the police station and found crack cocaine and heroin inside his body.

Bohm, 23, of Burrage Road, Woolwich, London, was jailed for three and a half years for possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply.

Officers from the South Operation Raptor team visited a property in Laindon on January 23 this year, after being concerned that the tenant of the address may have been 'cuckooed'.

'Cuckooing' is a practice where drug dealers or gangs take over an individual's home and use it as a base to make and/or deal drugs.

The officers knocked on the door of the property but received no response. They then peered through the letterbox and saw Bohm acting suspiciously as he rushed around the house, appearing to discard a mobile phone.

Moments later the police were let into the property where they found Bohm in the living room, and when he was searched, they found more than £800 in cash.

He was arrested for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

He was taken to the police station where he was strip searched, and officers found he was concealing 26 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin in his bottom.

This practice is known as "plugging", where drugs are placed inside the body.

Bohm was taken to hospital for a scan and x-ray and monitored in custody until he passed the drugs three days later.

He was charged with possession of Class A drug with intent to supply which he pleaded guilty at Basildon Crown Court.

Bohm was sentenced to three-and-a-half-years in prison at Basildon Crown Court last month (Tuesday, February 7).

Investigating officer, Pc Andrew Heard of the South Operation Raptor team, said: "People are often under the misguided belief that the lifestyle of a gang member and drug dealer is a glamorous one - but they are wrong.

"Drug dealers routinely endanger their own lives by swallowing or plugging drugs in an effort to avoid capture and detection by us.

"If they think they can avoid prosecution by ingesting or 'plugging' drugs they are mistaken. We will arrest them and, with the support of the courts, we will keep them detained in custody until they pass those drugs.

"But we will always strive to strike a balance between overseeing the welfare of a detainee and ensuring that all evidence is captured to ensure the best possible chance of prosecution.

"Essex Police's Operation Raptor teams remain committed to taking drugs and those selling them off of the streets of our county."

Essex Police set up Operation Raptor teams all over the county, creating South, North and West teams to tackle drug and gang-related crime.

If you have any information about drug or gang-related crime in your area and community, you can call Essex Police on 101, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.