A TEENAGE drug dealer tried to stash crack cocaine in his bum to avoid being caught.

Police stopped James Sanders in a car in Eastbourne and found him in possession of a small amount of cannabis.

But as they searched him, an officer asked: “What’s that in your underpants?”

At first 19-year-old Sanders tried to lie, but then realised the game was up.

He had “secreted” 15 bags of the class A drug inside himself, Lewes Crown Court heard.

The drug dealer known as “Scouse Jim” also told police he had stashed £250 worth of cocaine at his room at the Glastonbury Hotel in Royal Parade.

In the room officers found cocaine worth £920, £135 in cash, burner phones, and a tub of Vaseline.

Sanders committed the offences while on bail from Liverpool, where he was previously caught dealing drugs worth £1,600 in August 2019.

His Honour Judge Martin Huseyin added an extra 18 months to Sanders’ time behind bars for the Sussex offences.

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Will Martin, prosecuting, said police stopped the vehicle in Eastbourne on October 24 last year.

He said: “A search found a deal bag of cannabis worth £10, consistent with personal use.

“As the search went on, officers effectively asked what was in his underpants.

“He was seen to have something secreted in his anus, which he denied.

“But then the defendant decided that rather than delay the inevitable, he would produce the drugs.

“There were 15 bags found from inside him. It was crack cocaine.”

James Sanders stuffed crack cocaine up his bum in Eastbourne to try to hide evidence of his drug deals from police

James Sanders stuffed crack cocaine up his bum in Eastbourne to try to hide evidence of his drug deals from police

Mr Martin said a previous search in Liverpool in August 2019 had revealed 44 wraps of cocaine.

Then in July last year he was found with 112 wraps of cocaine.

Sanders also had 176 messages relating to deals as “Scouse Jim” in Eastbourne, Mr Martin said.

Henry Dickson, defending, said his client had got involved with drug dealing because of intimidation.

Judge Huseyin noted that Sanders, of Jade Close, Knowsley, was already sentenced to four years and one month behind bars for his offences in Liverpool.

The judge accepted there was a “degree of pressure” that got him into dealing, but said: “He moved to an area where he was less likely to be known to the police.

“Effectively he got himself out of an area of suspicion, rather than seeking help from the authorities.”