Who Needs A Holster When You Have A Big Belly
Updated : Aug 7, 2009
A 40 stone man smuggled a gun into two US prisons by hiding it within his rolls of fat.
George Vera, 25, carried the unloaded pistol into both Houston city and Harris county jails despite repeated searches, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Police had initially arrested Vera for selling bootlegged CDs out of the back of a sport utility vehicle in Houston.
Police spokesman Victor Senties said Vera was searched four times - at the scene, when he arrived at the city jail, before he was transferred to county jail and again when he arrived there.
The gun only came to light when he later approached a county guard during a shower break and admitted having smuggled it in, authorities said.
Houston Police Officers Union president Gary Blankinship said officers were trained how to search obese people.
"We teach officers to lift up and look under," he said, but added: "The officer may not have arrested anyone this big before.
"They can be so big, basically short of strip searching or searching cavities, they could miss something like this."
Vera was released on bail after being charged with possessing or selling unlabelled recordings and possession of a firearm in a correctional facility.
