Celebrity Busts In Texas Town Snag Nelly, Fiona Apple, Armie Hammer

Celebrity busts in a Texas town have been making the news lately as it seems no one famous can pass through Sierra Blanca, Texas without some sort of tour bus drug raid and embarrassing gossip column headlines resulting.

The celebrity busts in a Texas town aren’t even necessarily new news. Celebs have been getting on the wrong side of the law for a long time in Sierra Blanca (which means “white mountain”) for years, but a cluster in recent weeks has turned the media’s eye to the sleepy Texas burg 30 miles north of the border.

Amusingly, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Steven Seagal is a reserve deputy in the town where all the celebrity busts in Texas have broken out, which probably makes red carpet events a bit awkward from time to time. The mag explains that about six arrests overall occur in Sierra Blanca each day and quotes Border Patrol spokesman Bill Brooks:

“If there is marijuana in the middle of a can of jalapeños, the dog will smell both of them but ignore the jalapeños … These dogs are raised to work. They are excited to work. They never sit still; they can’t wait to find their next bust so they can be rewarded for it.”

Fiona Apple’s arrest on September 19 was one of the big celebrity busts in Texas that made the news and shined a light on the checkpoint, and Apple complained after she was busted about her treatment at the stop. THR quotes Huspeth County Sheriff’s Office rep. Rusty Fleming as retorting:

“Have you ever heard of Snoop, Willie or Armand Hammer? Maybe if you would read something besides your own press releases, you would have known BEFORE you got here that if you come to Texas with dope, the cops will take your DOPE away and put YOU in jail.”

“My last piece of advice is simple: Just shut up and sing.”

Had you heard of Sierra Blanca before the celebrity busts in the Texas town?