A DRUG dealer was caught with crack cocaine and heroin shoved between his buttocks.

Tendekai Chirinda has been locked behind bars for more than two years after he was caught in the act during a drug deal in Laindon.

The 34-year-old was pulled over by police officers who were out on patrol in Academy Drive, Laindon on November 12 last year.

The officers, who were part of the Basildon Operation Raptor team that focusses on tackling serious drug crimes in the borough, became suspicious of the vehicle, which was eventually found to have no insurance registered to it.

The officers saw a woman approach Chirinda, who was in the driver's seat of the car, before leaving shortly afterwards.

He then drove off straight away.

This led the officers to suspect that a drug deal had just taken place in the car.

They followed Chirinda to Broadmayne, where they carried out a stop search check on him and the car.

A spokesman for the Operation Raptor team said: "Chirinda initially gave a false name, and was arrested and taken into custody, where he was searched.

"He had hidden a parcel of individual wraps of crack cocaine and heroin between his buttocks.

"The drugs had a street value of £340."

The team said that Chirinda had refused to answer any questions put to him when the officers interviewed him while in custody.

However, he eventually said the drugs were for his own personal use.

He also claimed that the woman who approached his car in Academy Drive had sold them to him.

But phone logs also linked Chirinda to the earlier drug deal and other drug dealing.

Chirinda, of no fixed address, later admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin, and was jailed for 30 months at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday.