AN air passenger from Worcestershire who tried to smuggle £17,000 worth of cocaine into the UK in his underwear has been jailed for five years, Customs officials said.

Aaron Weavers was found with two packages of the drug when he was stopped at Birmingham International Airport.

The 24-year-old, of Bullas Road, Stourport-on-Severn, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to one charge of smuggling.

Searched

Weavers was stopped and searched by Customs officers after he touched down on a flight from Amsterdam on January 29 and passed through the "nothing to declare" channel.

Officials discovered the packages containing the drug, which had a 75 per cent purity with a total weight of 236g.

Speaking after the case, Bob Lyne, head of customs detection for the West Midlands and South Wales, said: This man thought more of the money to be made from drug dealing than the risk of detection and imprisonment, and today's sentence shows just how wrong he was.

"It should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can get away with trying to smuggle drugs through Birmingham Airport.