Drugs carried in pants - not buttocks, dealer insists

A senior Mongrel Mob member found with bags of methamphetamine lodged between his buttocks was found guilty in the High Court in Napier on Monday of supplying the drug.

When 45-year-old Derrick Wayne Irwin's Te Haroto home was searched police found a kit and pipe used for smoking methamphetamine, $3295 in cash and scales.

Irwin's lawyer Tony Snell argued the money had belonged to Irwin's wife and son who had sold pinecones and that because the scales weren't electronic they weren't being used to weigh drugs.

When police had appeared at Irwin's door he dashed from the table but was restrained by police and found to have bags of methamphetamine between his buttocks.

Irwin maintained they had just been in his underpants.

The jury only took a couple of hours to find Irwin guilty of possession for supply and supplying.

Irwin will be sentenced on November 10.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY