A 19-year-old St George’s man was jailed for two-and-a-half years today for importing more than $60,000 worth of cannabis.

Bryce Daniels pleaded guilty to importing the drugs after arriving on a British Airways flight from London’s Gatwick Airport on February 18.

Customs officers became suspicious of Daniels after a police officer’s drug detection dog took an interest in his backpack while going through secondary baggage inspection, prosecutor Nicole Smith told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.

After asking Daniels a series of questions, police officers asked if he had swallowed any drugs.

“No way,” Daniels told the customs officer. “My momma would f***ing kill me. Pardon my language.”

After a search of Daniels’ baggage failed to turn up any evidence of drugs, the teenager agreed to be x-rayed at the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Clinic in St George’s, at which point officers informed him he was arrested on suspicion of importing drugs.

The X-rays showed Daniels did in fact have foreign objects inside his stomach, at which point he admitted to officers that he had swallowed between 90 and 100 pellets containing cannabis resin, telling them: “Just give me some food and this will be out in an hour.” He added that he had committed the same crime before.

Subsequent analysis showed that Daniels had swallowed 603.87 grams of cannabis resin, valued at $60,350.

Duty Counsel Bruce Swan was unable to convince Mr Warner to delay sentencing for a Social Inquiry Report.

“The court of appeals says that this court must steel its nerves and impose the appropriate sentence even on those who are vulnerable, and that includes young people with no previous convictions,” Mr Warner said.