2 Chainz Charged With Drug Possession of Codeine

Hip-hop star 2 Chainz was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance on Thursday, 10 months after he was arrested by police at Los Angeles International Airport for carrying codeine, a key ingredient in the chemical mixture known as "sizzurp."

On June 11, the 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Tauheed Epps, was escorted off of an outbound flight by LAX police officers after a search of his checked baggage. He had less that an ounce of marijuana, but police also found a bottle of promethazine with codeine in his checked bag, reports MTV.

Airport police responded to a narcotics investigation at about 1 p.m. in the baggage check area of Terminal 5, where Transportation Security Administration agents told officers they found substances used in the popular drink known as "lean" or "purple drank."

According to officials, the rapper was hit with one charge of codeine possession, which can carry a sentence of up to 3 years in prison.

Los Angeles County district attorney spokesman Ricardo Santiago said Epps is due to appear in court April 8.

After his tour was searched for suspecting drug use later on last year, he went on "RapFix Live" to voice his frustrations with his run ins with police.

"You're not gonna find a kilo on my bus. You're not gonna find an unregistered reason," he said. "I went to work all last year. I paid taxes. I did everything I was supposed to do. So maybe people need to start aiming at some criminals. For me, I'm cold turkey on all criminal activities. I don't wanna do anything criminal. It's just about wasting your time, my time and taxpayers' money."