Wiz Khalifa was taken into custody on Saturday after a TSA offer at El Paso Airport found half of a gram of marijuana on the rapper. Wiz had just finished headlining the Neon Desert Music Festival in downtown El Paso and was on his way to Dallas when he didn’t make it though airport security.
In an official statement, El Paso chief of police Gregory Allen said, “the TSA Officer learned that Thomaz did not have any identification which led to him being sent for secondary screening. During that screening the TSA Officer located a metal container inside of the backpack which contained a prohibited item.”
The 26-year-old rapper was charged with possession (a misdemeanor) and had his bond posted at $300. However Wiz doesn’t seem to be too concerned with his jail time; the rapper took selfies in his cell and basically live tweeted the experience, creating the trending hashtag “#FreeTrapWiz” on Twitter.
Jail selfie. pic.twitter.com/l01qB8oLrm
— We Dem Boyz (@wizkhalifa) May 25, 2014
Wiz was set to release his new single “28 Grams” today, but delayed the release due to the jail time, apologizing to fans that he “got locced up.”
Lol ironic how he was bout to just drop 28 grams. Now he's jailed for having grams. #FreeTrapWiz @wizkhalifa
— Nick (@nicker27) May 25, 2014
This isn’t Wiz’s first run-in with the law; he’s been charged with marijuana possession twice before – both in April and May of 2012. Wiz has always been open about his marijuana use, even naming his 2010 tour the “Waken Baken Tour.” “I thought weed was bad for a minute,” Khalifa said to MTV back in 2010. “But I got to a point where it worked for me. It don’t work for everybody else. People gotta stay free, people need jobs, people got parents that probably wouldn’t be with it, so don’t ruin your life trying to be like me. That’s my advice.”
After his jail release, Wiz will drop his new single and prepare for his upcoming headlining tour with Tyga and Ty Dolla $ign. His new album, “Blacc Hollywood” will be released later in August. “The album is going to come right after the tour,” Khalifa said. “I’m going to use the tour to set it up and get ’em ready for it.”
Image via Wikimedia Commons