Rapper Rick Ross arrested for marijuana possession

Rapper Rick Ross was arrested and booked with possession of marijuana in Louisiana after being caught with one gram of the drug in a hotel room, police said on Monday.

Ross, 35, whose real name is William Roberts but adopted a stage name inspired by former Los Angeles drug dealer Ricky Ross, was caught with marijuana on Friday at the Hilton Hotel in Shreveport, Louisiana, police spokesperson Bill Goodin said.

Police responded to a citizen's complaint about "an odour of marijuana" coming from the Florida rapper's hotel room, Goodin said. Another man with Ross in the hotel was arrested for possessing eight grams of the drug.

The rapper, whose albums include Port of Miami, Teflon Don and Deeper than Rap, was charged with one count of a first offence of possession of marijuana and was released from jail on a misdemeanour summons.

In the past the rapper, whose lyrics have bragged of a cash-fueled, drug boss life, has dealt with image problems after it was revealed he had once worked as a corrections officer, an occupation that jars with the hustling image of some rappers, including Ross.

Ross initially denied the reports, then admitted it but maintained his drug-dealing tales of the street were true.