Juelz Santana Turns Himself In To Face Weapons Charge
Harlem-born rapper Juelz Santana was arrested early Monday, days after TSA agents discovered a gun in his abandoned bag at Newark Airport, authorities said.
Santana, whose real name is LaRon James, 36, allegedly fled from the security checkpoint at Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday around 6 p.m., leaving behind two bags and his ID, according to a Port Authority Police Department spokesman.
When TSA agents examined the abandoned belongings, they found a loaded .38-caliber Derringer in one of the bags.
“As TSA started going through his bag, he ran out of the airport and jumped in a cab,” a source told the South Passaic Daily Voice.
The “Rain Drops” artist, who lives in Newark, NJ, was taken into custody at the Port Authority Newark Airport police facility about 1 a.m. Monday on charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and an unidentified federal warrant, authorities said.
He is expected to appear before a judge in US District Court in Newark later Monday.
This wasn’t James’ first run-in with the law. Cops raided a music-video shoot that included him and fellow rappers French Montana and Busta Rhymes in 2015 in Brooklyn and seized several illegal guns and drugs, though none of the musicians were charged. James was convicted in 2011 for assault.
