Socialite Paris Hilton has been arrested on cocaine possession charges after police stopped the car she was in on a Las Vegas street, authorities said.

Hilton was booked into the Clark County Detention Centre on a charge of possession of cocaine, Las Vegas police spokesman Marcus Martin said.

Hilton, 29, was in a car driven by a friend, which was stopped when officers noticed what they suspected to be marijuana smoke coming from it, he said.

“Officers noticed a vehicle leaving smoke trail of a controlled substance (and) made a stop based on that,” Martin said.

During the stop, officers found what appeared to be a drug on Hilton and later tests showed that it was cocaine, Martin said. He didn’t know how much was found.

He said Hilton was apparently recognised by passers-by and a crowd quickly gathered in the area where the vehicle had been pulled over.