Pubdate: Sun, 14 Oct 2012 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times Contact: http://www.latimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248 Author: Molly Hennessy-Fiske TEXAS CHECKPOINT BUSTS A ROGUE'S GALLERY OF STARS Nelly's Tour Bus Is Stopped at the Same Place Fiona Apple Was Arrested Last Month. HOUSTON - Heroin, 10 pounds of marijuana and a loaded handgun were allegedly found on the tour bus of rapper Nelly on Wednesday night. And if he were considering a war of words with local law enforcement, singer Fiona Apple might advise him to think twice. The seizure occurred at a Border Patrol checkpoint on a lonely stretch of West Texas' Interstate 10 that has become infamous for celebrity drug busts. Also busted have been country singer Willie Nelson, actor Armand "Armie" Hammer, rapper Snoop Dogg and the aforementioned Apple. Nelly, born Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. in Austin, was detained but not arrested in Sierra Blanca (population roughly 600), Hudspeth County sheriff 's officials told The Times. Nelly's tour bus was traveling east on I-10 when it was stopped at about 8 p.m. at the Border Patrol checkpoint about 80 miles east of El Paso. Officials brought in a drug-sniffing dog, which led to the discovery of a box containing marijuana, 36 "very small" plastic bags of heroin and a loaded .45-caliber handgun, officials said. The drugs and gun were linked to Nelly's bodyguard, Brian Keith Jones, whom deputies arrested. Nelly, 37, whose hits include "Hot in Herre," was not pleased, judging from his Twitter account. "2have some1 who works 4u n who u call a friend 4 ova 10years jeopardize ur life WTF?... No excuses for wad he did!!!" Numerous bloggers have advised musicians to avoid the checkpoint, suggesting alternative routes through Albuquerque and Amarillo. And you'd think they'd have learned their lesson after Apple (perhaps best known for her 1998 Grammy-winning hit "Criminal") was busted last month on her way from Tucson to Austin. At the time, a drug-sniffing dog zeroed in on a small amount of marijuana and hashish, and Apple (whose legal last name is Maggart), 35, "freely admitted that the controlled substances belonged to her and she was placed under arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents and detained," sheriff 's officials said in a news release. Apple spent the night in jail, was released the following day on $10,000 bond and made it to Houston in time for a Friday show. That's when things got publicly interesting. In a little pre-show banter posted on Pitchfork, Apple told the Houston audience about her time in Hudspeth County Jail and the "inappropriate and probably illegal" behavior of four sheriff 's employees. "I want you to know that I heard everything you did. I wrote it all down with your names and everything you did and said stupidly thinking that I couldn't hear or see you," she said. "I then ripped the paper up, but not before I encoded it and ... I got two lock boxes. We'll call them 'Holding Cell 1' and ' Holding Cell 2.' In 'Holding Cell 1' is the encoded version of the [stuff] that you did that I know was inappropriate and probably illegal. In 'Holding Cell 2' is the decoder. I'm the only one who holds the key, and you and I will be intimate forever because I will hold that secret forever.... Unless you're interested in being a celebrity." Hudspeth County Sheriff 's spokesman Gary "Rusty" Fleming fired back with an official statement. "1. If Miss Apple has a legal complaint we urge her to immediately contact the state attorney general's office for the state of Texas. (We'll give her the number if she needs that.) "2. If she has an ethical complaint against any employee/jailer/deputy of this department, she needs to report that directly to the internal affairs division of the Hudspeth County Sheriff 's Office. (She spent the night with us here, so she probably already has that number.)" Fleming followed up with a personal statement just for Apple. It read in part: "Honey, I'm already more famous than you, I don't need your help. "However, it would appear that you need mine. Two weeks ago nobody in the country cared about what you had to say - now that you've been arrested it appears your entire career has been jump-started. Don't worry Sweetie, I won't bill you." After warning against bringing drugs to Texas and noting other celebrity arrests, the statement concluded: "My last piece of advice is simple, ' just shut up and sing.' " Reached Friday, Fleming sounded a bit apologetic. "I did not mean to be misogynistic or chauvinistic in that letter.... I was being ridiculous because I thought two lockboxes and a decoder was ridiculous," he told The Times. Fleming said Apple and other entertainers traveling I-10 are not targeted for searches. "Everybody gets pulled over into that station - it's not a thing where people get profiled," he said. Avoiding Sierra Blanca won't do much good, he added. "We have patrols on those back roads," he said, "The better thing to do would be to throw the dope away before you get to Texas." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom