A MAN from Saltney Ferry who hid 47 wraps of cocaine and heroin up his backside has been jailed for drug dealing.

Addict Kevin Brown, 57, claimed he had bought the Class A drugs, worth £470 in bulk, so he could consume them over a period of time and was concealing them to keep them “safe”.

But police didn’t believe his story as officers had arrested him near the Rock in Connah’s Quay, an area known to be frequented by dealers.

A police drugs expert said it was unlikely that Brown would have bought such a large quantity of drugs for his own use as such a strategy carried the risk of discovery by the police as well as other dealers.

Brown, of Ewart Street, Saltney Ferry, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of diamorphine (heroin) with intent to supply.

But he was found guilty by a majority verdict, following a two day trial at Mold Crown Court, where jurors heard that three layers of a plastic packing were found protruding from his anus and 33 wraps of cocaine and 14 of heroin were contained in the innermost layer.

He was also found to have £40.95 on his person, but he said that was his “dole money” and he was on his way to his nephew’s whom he had planned to lend some the money.

Defence barrister Myles Wilson said Brown had suffered a “sad decline” from his last period in custody 19 years ago.

“His relapse into drug taking has been his downfall,” said Mr Wilson, who said that Brown was very low down on the drugs supply chain as shown by the lack of paraphernalia found at his address.

Mr Wilson added that his client was in severe financial difficulty and had had his house repossessed and been forced to walk back to Saltney Ferry from Mold Crown Court as he could not afford the bus.

Sentencing Brown to two sentences of four and a half years for each offence, to run concurrently, Judge Rhys Rowland praised the police for their good work on the case.

He added that he accepted the guilty man was “towards the bottom” of the drugs supply chain.