Justin Bieber was taken into custody after landing at Los Angeles International Airport from Japan on Thursday afternoon. Several hours later, shortly before 7 p.m., PDT, the pop star was seen leaving through a side door exit, according to Los Angeles television news reports. Bieber smiled as he dodged paparazzi on his way to a waiting car.
Bieber was detained "...in a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol area … upon his return from Asia, sources told the LATimes. No "formal action" was taken against Bieber, according to the sources.
The sources told the Times that Bieber’s questioning was not a formal arrest or detention.
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Canadian-born Bieber, 20, has a list of legal woes, including DUI charges in Miami, an arrest in Toronto and a Los Angeles County vandalism investigation after he was accused of egging a neighbor’s house in January. The homeowner claimed damage of at least $20,000, making the alleged crime a felony.
The pop star drew fire from South Korea and China after stepping into a bitter international dispute over Japan's wartime aggression. (See Reuters video, above.)
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