Justin Bieber allowed back into US after private jet 'searched for drugs'

Justin Bieber pictured in New York yesterday. The search of his plane was undertaken after US customs officials believed they smelled marijuana on some of Bieber's entourage (GETTY)

Troubled pop star Justin Bieber was allowed re-entry into the Unites States on Friday after his private jet was searched for drugs.

During a brief detention, US customs officials used drug-sniffing dogs to comb the Canadian singer’s plane, according to a US law enforcement source briefed on the incident.

No illegal drugs were found and no charges were brought, but the 19-year-old and his fellow passengers were questioned for several hours, said the source.

The search of the jet was conducted after US customs officials believed that they smelled marijuana on some of Bieber’s entourage.

But it was not immediately clear who or how many other passengers were on the plane that touched down at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport.

A Port Authority spokesperson said his agency was notified at 8.20pm local time that Bieber had been released from US Customs, and had no further comment.

It was just the latest incident in what has so far been a tumultuous year for the teen heart-throb. In January, Bieber was charged with assault for allegedly hitting a Toronto limousine driver several times in the back of the head. He is due to appear in court in Toronto on 10 March.

And, in the same month, Bieber dramatically escaped charges after he was arrested in Miami Beach alongside R&B singer Khalil Amir Sharieff during what police described as an illegal street drag race between a Lamborghini and a Ferrari.

Miami Beach police initially accused Bieber and Khali of racing at speeds between 50 and 60 miles an hour, but, according to TMZ.com, GPS records showed that the maximum speed reached by Bieber in the rented Lamborghini was 44mph.

However, the pop star still faces DUI and other charges, to which he is pleading not guilty.

A friend of Bieber’s has also been getting into trouble. Earlier Friday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged Xavier Smith, better known as rapper Lil Za, with drug possession in connection with a raid last month on Bieber’s home in Calabasas, California.

Smith, 20, was charged with possession of MDMA and oxycodone and vandalizing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's jail where he was held, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the district attorney.

Additional reporting by Reuters