*Australia has joined the United Kingdom in officially banning rapper Snoop Dogg from stepping foot onto its soil.
Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Thursday that Snoop was told his visa would be cancelled after he pleaded no contest to gun and drug charges in the United States earlier this month.
"He doesn't seem the sort of bloke we want in this country," Andrews told local radio.
"This man has been a member of a Los Angeles gang, and is still associated with it apparently, that's been involved in murder, robberies and drug dealing in the LA area."
"He has been denied entry into the United Kingdom because he was caught with others causing a fray at Heathrow airport," Andrews added, addressing the fight at London's Heathrow airport last year that landed him and three members of his entourage behind bars for a night.
The 35-year-old artist, whose real name, according to Wikipidia, is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.
, was due to attend the MTV Australian Video Music Awards this Sunday with Nicole Richie. Andrews said the Long Beach artist had 28 days to give a reason why he should be allowed into Australia.
Earlier this month, Snoop pleaded no-contest to gun and drug charges and was given a three-year suspended sentence in lieu of jail time.
Snoop was also arrested last October after police at Burbank Airport found a gun and marijuana in his car. Prosecutors were unable to prove that the gun was his, but a later search of his home turned up another firearm. The performer was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm because of a 1990 felony conviction for possession of drugs for sale.
In November, Snoop was charged with possession of a deadly weapon after police found him carrying a collapsible baton through security at Orange County's John Wayne Airport. That case is still pending.
In March, Stockholm police arrested the MC for suspected narcotics use.
Some folks think she sounds like Mary J.
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