Gin and juice apparently no longer does the trick for Snoop Dogg. These days, the rapper's go-to pairing seems to be illegal drug and weapon possession.
Snoop was arrested for a third time in three months Tuesday after cops busted him on the aforementioned charges as he left a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, was arrested on counts of illegally possessing a handgun, possessing cocaine, transporting marijuana and having a false compartment in his car.
According to police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Grandalski, Snoop's entourage was pulled over just after 6 p.m., as soon as the rapper had left NBC's studios in Burbank, where he was taping a performance for last night's Tonight Show.
Rather than being an incredibly unfortunate routine traffic stop, police say they were waiting for the "Beautiful" singer to leave the studio to execute a search warrant for his vehicle, issued as a follow-up to the rapper's Oct. 26 arrest at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport on similar gun and marijuana charges.
According to local news reports, the officers' thorough search of the vehicle took several hours and shut down traffic outside the studio.
At the same time that the rapper's ride was being put under the gun, authorities carried out searches at Snoop's Diamond Bar, California, home as well as on "other vehicles and persons with whom he is associated."
Snoop's hard-working attorney, Donald Etra, told the Associated Press that despite the mass of evidence against his client, "as of this point, he stands innocent of all charges."
The rapper was arrested shortly after 6 p.m. and remained jailed for roughly seven hours, being released on $60,000 bail slightly after 1 a.m.
Two members of the 35-year-old hip-hopster's posse, 33-year-old Michael Mingo and 36-year-old Lovell Polk—who, per the Burbank Police, were admitted members of the Rollin' 20s Crips gang—were also arrested during the traffic stop for investigation of possessing burglary tools and for having an outstanding warrant, respectively.
It's unclear whether the two men were released at the same time.
The Grammy winner is set to be arraigned on the charges Jan. 11. By then he should have the court routine down pat.
Snoop is due to appear in court twice before that date. First up is his Dec. 4 arraignment in Orange County, stemming from his Sept. 27 arrest at Santa Ana's John Wayne Airport for investigation of carrying a deadly weapon after security officials found a collapsible baton in his carry-on luggage. At the time, Snoop claimed the weapon was simply a prop for an upcoming movie.
On Dec. 12, the rapper will return to court for yet another arraignment stemming from the illegal drug- and weapon-possession charges he racked up from his October arrest at the Burbank airport.
Of course, the rapper has a history of making the skies a little less friendly.
Last May, he received a caution from London police and a lifetime ban from British Airways after instigating a brawl with airline staff at Heathrow.