Snoop Dogg cash seized at Italy airport

Half the $422,000 carried by Snoop Dogg was seized by police

Rap star Snoop Dogg has been stopped by police in Italy while carrying $422,000 (£270,000) in cash, authorities say.

The singer was travelling through an airport in Calabria, southern Italy, where he had been performing.

Sums of more than €10,000 (£7,000; $11,000) must be declared by anyone travelling through airports in the European Union.

Last week, the American was stopped on suspicion of possessing drugs by police in Uppsala, Sweden.

He criticised what he said was "racial profiling" but Swedish police say they have yet to receive the results of tests to see whether Snoop Dogg had drugs in his system.

'No crime'

After stopping him on Saturday as he prepared to board a private plane, Italian police seized half of the $422,000 under money laundering laws, the state news agency Ansa said.

It is now likely to be returned, with a fine deducted, the Italian financial police say.

Andrea Parisi, a lawyer representing the artist, told Reuters: "We clarified everything from a legal point of view. The money came from concerts he had performed around Europe. There was no crime; it was just an administrative infraction."

Snoop Dogg - whose real name is Calvin Broadus - is scheduled to play the Kendal Calling festival in northern England on Sunday.

He has not responded to his latest detention and his current whereabouts are unconfirmed.