Flying Dirty: 14 Times Rappers Were Busted at the Airport

Sometimes rappers see themselves as above the law, but the TSA certainly does not.

Oct 14, 2014
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Complex Original

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Complex Original

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Remember when it was no big deal to stroll onto an airplane with a half-ounce of weed stashed in your luggage or an eight-ball of coke boofed in your butt crack? Well, in the words of hip-hop laureate Biggie Smalls, things done changed. Since the tragic events of 9/11—resulting in the over aggressive TSA security measures that were put in place afterward—the airport is officially one of the last places you would want to bring something illegal. But apparently, there are a lot of rappers who didn’t get the memo.

For some strange reason, time and time again, rap stars are busted at the airport carrying contraband of all sorts. We guess good weed carriers and gun smugglers are hard to find these days. Here are 14 times rappers tried to fly the friendly skies with prohibited items.

C. Vernon Coleman II is a writer living in Atlanta. Follow him @Vernon_Coleman.

DMX

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Airport: John F. Kennedy (NYC)

Date: June 24, 2004

Contraband: Billy club, crack cocaine, prescription pills

We aren’t sure if DMX was trying to catch a flight when he was arrested at New York’s Kennedy Airport in June 2004, but he was clearly already high enough to slap five with a 747. Earl was booked at JFK after driving through a parking lot gate and later stopping a man and ordering him out of his vehicle claiming to be an FBI agent. The cops later discovered a billy club, 15-20 rocks of crack, and prescription pills Oxycodone and Diazepam in Simmons’ ride.

Snoop Dogg

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Airport: Bob Hope Airport (Burbank, Calif.)

Date: Oct. 26, 2006

Contraband: Marijuana, gun, police baton

In 2006, weed and a gun was the case for the Snoop Dogg. While parked outside the Bob Hope airport in Burbank, Calif., Snoop was approached by police for a loading zone violation. They discovered weed and a pistol and proceeded to arrest him. That was Snoop’s second time being arrested at the airport that year. Just a month prior, the Doggfather was booked at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., for trying to bring a collapsible 21-inch police baton onto the plane.

Young Joc

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Airport: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (Cleveland)

Date: Dec. 23, 2007

Contraband: Semiautomatic handgun with ammunition

Young Joc was arrested in 2007 at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport when officials discovered a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition in the “It’s Going Down” rapper's carry-on bag. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, sentenced to a crappy career, and banished to reality TV.

PSD

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Airport: Sacramento Internaitonal Airport (Sacramento, Calif.)

Date: July 24, 2008

Contraband: Ecstasy

Vallejo rapper and Mac Dre affiliate PSD must have been on PCP when he attempted to smuggle 6,000 E pills hidden under his clothes at Sacramento International Airport in 2008. After being selected for a pat down, a TSA agent discovered a bulge under his right pants leg, which PSD explained off as being his colostomy bag. Sensing the jig was up, he tried to flee the scene, but was apprehended and taken in for a private screening where authorities discovered over $5,000 in cash and over 6,000 pills on his person.

Coolio

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Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles)

Date: March 6, 2009

Contraband: Crack cocaine

Coolio had a fantastic voyage end prematurely in 2009 when he was stopped in LAX during security checkpoint after crack was discovered on his person. To make the struggle worse, Lo reportedly got physical with the screener who discovered his stash, because, of course, who wants to get their crack taken? He was charged with possession of an illegal substance.

Petey Pablo

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Airport: Raleigh-Durham International Airport (Raleigh, N.C.)

Date: Sept. 11, 2010

Contraband: Stolen handgun

Petey Pablo couldn’t have picked a worse day to carry a handgun into the airport. But for some reason, the rapper decided Sept. 11, 2010, was a good day to try to sneak a banger onto an airplane at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The 9mm semiautomatic pistol was discovered, and Pablo, a felon, was arrested, charged, and sentenced to four years in prison for his head-scratching decision.

Kurtis Blow

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Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles)

Date: Dec. 8, 2010

Contraband: Marijuana

Hip-hop pioneer Kurtis Blow was cited in LAX in 2010 when a body scan discovered he was packing more than his family jewels. Screeners discovered Blow was concealing a small amount of marijuana, and he was given a ticket and allowed to proceed through security screenings. California love.

Memphitz

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Airport: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (Atlanta) 

Date: Aug. 22, 2011

Contraband: .40 calibur Desert Eagle

Forgetting about the .22 in your bag might be probable, but not knowing your luggage is loaded with a freakin' hand cannon that has the ability to blow off limbs officially gets you a [Ed Lover voice] “Come on, son.” In 2011, rapper Memphitz attempted to board a plane with a Desert Eagle in his bag. The firearm was discovered during an X-ray checkpoint. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. Wait, how is that only a misdemeanor? 

Freddie Gibbs

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Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles)

Date: Dec. 14, 2011

Contraband: Marijuana

Freddie Gibbs might be the luckiest person in airplane drug smuggling history. In December 2011, he got caught with weed in his bag by TSA security, but he was let off with only a warning. He later posted his fortune on Twitter: “The TSA found my weed and let me keep it. They just left me a note. ‘C’mon Son’. Lol,” he posted along with a picture of his unmolested green and the notice of search.

Strap

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Airport: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (Atlanta) 

Date: Feb. 15, 2012

Contraband: 9mm handgun

And the winner of the “Irony of the Year” award goes to Travis Porter’s Strap who in 2012 attempted to slip through security at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport with a strap in his backpack. After his possessions were flagged, he was approached by several security personnel about the contents before being detained and later arrested. He would later state he forgot the biscuit was in there calling it an “Honest-to-God mistake.” 

2 Chainz

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Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles)

Date: June 11, 2013

Contraband: Marijuana, promethazine, and codeine

2 Chainz might just want to start taking the bus. Last year, Tity Boi was popped in LAX when workers discovered weed and bottle of codeine in his bag. He was removed from the plane and booked on a felony narcotics possession charge. The year before, he was arrested at NYC's LaGuardia Airport for carrying brass knuckles. 

Wiz Khalifa

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Airport: El Paso International Airport (El Paso, Texas)

Date: June 25, 2014

Contraband: Marijuana

In March 2014, Wiz Khalifa was taken into custody at an El Paso airport after workers discovered some high grade reefer in his bag during a TSA bag check. He might have gotten off pot free, but the rapper’s lack of an ID made him have to go through a second screening where the greeny green was discovered in a metal can. He later tweeted out pictures from his prison cell.

Too $hort

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Airport: Bob Hope Airport (Burbank, Calif.)

Date: Oct. 2, 2014

Contraband: Loaded handgun

Too $hort has been pimping, but he might want to leave the packing up to someone else. Short Dog was at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., in October when TSA agents discovered a handgun in his bag. Before he could be detained, $hort hauled ass and later returned with his lawyer on some Silkk the Shocker, it ain't my fault ish. He was cited with possessing a loaded handgun in a public place.

Waka Flocka Flame

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Airport: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (Atlanta) 

Date: Oct. 10, 2014

Contraband: 5.7 X 28mm pistol with 30 rounds

Waka Flocka Flame is known for making songs about guns. In October 2014, the rapper’s affinity for firearms got him in some trouble when a loaded handgun was located in his carry-on bag while he was attempting to catch a flight at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He was arrested and charged with carrying a weapon in a prohibited place.

Wiz KhalifaSnoop DoggDMX

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