Mikael Persbrandt in new cocaine bust

Persbrandt was nabbed in a raid by Stockholm police at the Clarion Hotel on April 15th. The actor has admitted the offence and has been fined 15,900 kronor ($2,570), according to a report in the Metro daily.

The bust comes just a few months after the burly actor was ousted from his role as an ambassador of the UN’s children’s fund Unicef after he was arrested in January.

47-year-old Persbrandt at first denied taking the drug but after a urine test exposed traces of cocaine, he admitted to the offence, telling police that it was the first time he had dabbled in the drug and that it he had hardly felt any effect.

The actor is one Sweden’s most well-known stage and film actors and recently enjoyed international recognition when the Susanne Bier film “In a Better World” picked up the 2011 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

The Swede stars as a doctor who divides his time between family life in Denmark and a turbulent life working in a refugee camp in east Africa.

Persbrandt’s next major Hollywood project will be playing the role of Beorn in The Hobbit Parts 1 and 2, the prequels to the Lord of the Rings.

He is currently busy filming in a trio of films based on Jan Guillou’s Hamilton books. According to the producer, Persbrandt’s latest drug bust will have no impact on filming.

“Not at all,” said Johan Mardell at Pampas Produktion to the Metro daily.