Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

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

Snoop Dogg vowed never to return to Sweden after the incident

Doug Bolton
Monday 27 July 2015 06:32 EDT
Comments
Snoop Dogg performs in Uppsala, Sweden, shortly before he was arrested on suspicion of drug offences
Snoop Dogg performs in Uppsala, Sweden, shortly before he was arrested on suspicion of drug offences (TT NEWS AGENCY/Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

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."

Snoop Dogg is well-known for his love of cannabis
Snoop Dogg is well-known for his love of cannabis (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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.

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.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in