A man incurred a heavy fine yesterday after he admitted trying to hide cannabis from police by sticking it in his mouth.

Shacoi Daniels, 35, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to drug possession and obstruction of a police officer while performing their duties.

The court heard that police stopped Daniels as he was driving in Pembroke at about 3.40am.

Officers could smell cannabis in his car. When asked if he had any drugs, Daniels said: “I have weed in a jar right there.”

He directed officers to a glass jar that contained three small bags of a plantlike material.

Police arrested Daniels for possession of a controlled substance and took him to Hamilton Police Station, where he was ordered to empty his pockets.

Police saw several other twist bags emerge, which prompted Daniels to put them in his mouth.

Police were able to remove them and charged him with obstruction of justice.

The twist bags in the jar and his pockets were found to have a total of 8.74g of cannabis.

The incident happened on January 12 last year.

Daniels, from Pembroke, apologised to the court and asked for leniency.

He explained that he was working two jobs and was no longer involved with drugs.

Nicole Smith, for the defence, pointed out that her client was just above the criminal limit of 7g for cannabis.

Magistrate Craig Attridge fined Daniels $1,250.

He ordered him to pay $500 for possession of cannabis by the end of the day and $750, for obstruction of justice, by the end of the month.

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