Snoop Dogg hits turbulence again

Snoop Dogg

US prosecutors are considering charging Snoop Dogg after authorities discovered a 53cm collapsible baton in his bag when he boarded a New York-bound flight.

The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, had the baton in his laptop case as he went through a security checkpoint at John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, California.

Snoop Dogg, 35, told sheriff's deputies that the baton was a prop for a movie he was filming in New York.

It was not the first time the rapper has had a problem at an airport. Earlier, he accepted responsibility for using "threatening words or behaviour" in an brawl at Heathrow Airport in London.

Snoop Dogg and five other men were arrested on charges of violent disorder and starting a brawl after some members of the rapper's party were denied entry to British Airways' first-class lounge.

Snoop Dogg was convicted in 1990 of cocaine possession and was charged with gun possession after a 1993 traffic stop.

Facing three years in prison, he pleaded guilty in exchange for three years' probation and a promise to make anti-violence public service announcements.

In 1996 he was acquitted of murder after a street gang member was killed by gunfire from the vehicle in which Snoop Dogg was travelling.