DRUG peddler Brian Green had swallowed 16 sausage-shaped wraps of cannabis resin when he was arrested by police in Kidderminster.

He was kept under observation until the wraps, known as "eggs" or "acorns", passed through his body, said William Baker, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court.

Judge Michael Mott commented: "Anyone who does something as unpleasant as that is obviously involved in the drug trade in a serious way."

Green, aged 41, of Park Street, Kidderminster, was jailed for 27 months after pleading guilty to having the drug intending to supply it to another person.

He was arrested at his rented flat on June 11 last year, said Mr Baker. Five wraps of cannabis worth £395 were found at various places in the flat.

Green was stopped as he tried to leave. In his carrier bags were a set of electronic scales and 198 film-wrapped "eggs." He admitted swallowing others. The total street value of the cannabis was £3,500.

Building site

The court heard that film-wrapped "eggs" could easily be swallowed and were often used to enable smugglers to pass unnoticed through metal detectors at ports and airports. But Green denied that he had been abroad.

Nicolas Cartwright, defending, said Green had been given £200 to travel to Birmingham and collect the cannabis for someone else.

Police suspected that he had been abroad but the defendant had been working locally on a building site and had not left the country.

Mr Cartwright pointed out that each wrap contained a piece of foil that would have made it impossible to pass through a metal detector without suspicion being raised. Green had been jailed in 1990 and 1995 for drug offences.