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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Entertainment
Doug Bolton

Rapper Snoop Dogg claims he was racially profiled after drugs arrest in Sweden

Snoop Dogg performs in Uppsala, Sweden, shortly before he was arrested on suspicion of drug offences (TT NEWS AGENCY/Reuters)

American rapper Snoop Dogg was briefly arrested in Sweden on suspicion of using drugs, in an incident in which he claims he was racially profiled.

Daniel Nilsson, a police spokesman for the central Uppsala region of Sweden, said: "Police carrying out roadside controls noticed that Snoop Dogg (whose car was pulled over) seemed to be under the influence of narcotics. He was arrested and taken to the police station to take a urine test."

"The incident lasted several minutes. Once the test was carried out he left," Nilsson said, referring to the arrest which took place the day after Snoop Dogg played a concert in the area.

During the arrest and the subsequent drug test, Snoop Dogg posted videos to his Instagram account describing his experience.

In the first, he says to the camera: "They pulled a n***** over for nothing, taking me to the police station where I've got to pee in a cup, for nothing."

He added: "Sorry to all the fans in Sweden, I'll never be back in this country, you can blame your police chief and the people who run your police department."

In another video, posted from the police station, he said he had been  the victim of racial profiling, and was pulled over because of the colour of his skin.

Quoting controversial American religious and social leader Louis Farrakhan, Snoop Dogg said: "It's better to be searched and not found with nothing than not to be searched at all."

GettyImages-75596847.jpg Snoop Dogg is well-known for his love of cannabis Shortly after his drugs test, the rapper was released and was free to leave the country.

In one of his videos, Snoop Dogg said that the police hadn't found anything, but a national police spokesman said the test results would not be available for "some time".

Snoop Dogg is well-known for his love of cannabis, and mentions it frequently in his music.

He also sells his own line of king-size rolling papers, and in 2012 released a book of his song lyrics printed on rolling paper, that readers could tear out and roll joints with.

Read more: Two jailed for Swedish cannabis farm at school
Snoop Dogg faces lawsuit over 'homophobic' Instagram post
Snoop Dogg watches Game of Thrones to 'learn about history'

Snoop Dogg has been in similar legal trouble in Scandinavia before - in 2012, he was banned from entering Norway for two years, after being found with eight grams of cannabis and a large amount of undeclared money.

Despite Sweden's liberal image, it has a zero-tolerance approach to drugs - anyone suspected of being high in public can be arrested and made to do a urine test.

If it is positive, culprits are charged, and must stand trial. As a result, Sweden has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world.

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