A RAPPER pal of 50 Cent is staying in a taxpayer-funded hotel while claiming asylum.

Bang Em Smurf, real name Daniel Calliste, was jailed in the US following a shootout.

He is living in a Novotel near Stevenage, Herts.

Smurf is understood to have arrived here late last year claiming he needed “safety from gangs” in his native Trinidad.

A source said: “It’s crazy he was let in after being deported from the US with a criminal record for violent offences.

“His history is well known. He is being supported by the taxpayer.”

For asylum accommodation, an applicant must tick a box to say they’d otherwise be destitute.

The 102-room, four-star Novotel, off the A1 near Knebworth House, is closed to the public while housing refugees.

Smurf was born in Trinidad but moved to the US and began his rap career at 15.

He was part of the original G-Unit rap outfit and said to be 50 Cent’s head of security.

He is in the video for 2003 No 1 In Da Club but they later fell out.

In 2004 Smurf served 3½ years for gun possession after a New York shootout.

50 Cent refused to pay his bail, leading to both releasing “diss tracks”.

After his release Smurf was deported to Trinidad.

He told us he came to the UK as he had a deal with Universal to turn his 2018 memoir Wisdom of a Wolf: The G Behind the Unit into a film.

Instagram pictures show him in the UK from December and celebrating his 44th birthday on January 3 in Battersea, South London.

He appeared on podcasts and at a boxing event at Harrow Leisure Centre in February.

That month, he met Lord Michael Hastings at the Lords, saying his trip was linked to young people’s mental health in Trinidad.

In March he launched clothing brand The Industry Fake.

The Sun understands his application for asylum has been refused and he will be returned to Trinidad.

The cost of housing those seeking refugee status has ballooned to £5.5million a day.

Around 38,000 are currently based in 210 hotels, but the Home Office is running an audit of the migrants to see if each is eligible for taxpayer-funded aid.

It declined to comment on individual cases.

Smurf told our reporter: “There ain’t no story. You’re talking to the horse’s mouth. I’m telling you, that’s fake news.”

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Additional reporting by Thomas Godfrey.