In which city was Johnny Cash arrested for drug possession in 1965?

Johnny Cash was arrested for drug possession in El Paso, Texas, on October 4, 1965.

A narcotics squad stopped Cash while he was on tour and suspected that he was smuggling heroin from Mexico. Instead, officers found 688 Dexedrine capsules and 475 Equanil tablets hidden in his guitar case. Dexedrine was an amphetamine, while Equanil was a sedative or tranquilizer; both were prescription drugs at the time.

Cash posted a $1,500 bond and was released pending arraignment. Because the pills were prescription medicines rather than illegal narcotics, he received a suspended sentence. The incident occurred during one of the most difficult periods of his career, when he was dependent on amphetamines and other drugs to cope with touring and exhaustion.

This arrest is often confused with Cash’s other encounters with police. Earlier in 1965, he had been arrested in Starkville, Mississippi, for trespassing after picking flowers. His final arrest came in 1967 in Georgia, after police found prescription pills following a car accident.