Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's career leading scorer, surrendered a small amount of marijuana to U.S. Customs officials at a Canadian airport and paid a $500 fine, a Customs spokesman said.
The incident Sunday was handled as an administrative rather than a criminal matter, and Abdul-Jabbar was not placed under arrest at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, said Customs Service spokesman Pat Jones in Washington.Canadian police said Abdul-Jabbar was arrested, but not charged.
The Toronto Sun reported the former Los Angeles Lakers center was arrested after six grams of marijuana was found. It quoted Regional Police Supt. Blair Foley as saying that Abdul-Jabbar was not charged by Canadian police, who used their discretionary powers to leave it in the hands of U.S. Customs.