WNBA All-Star and Olympic champion Brittney Griner faces 5 to 10 years in Russian prison after she was arrested on drug smuggling charges when she was found with vape cartridges in her carry-on luggage at a Moscow airport, according to Russian news sources.
American basketball players have already left Russia and Ukraine to come back to the United States due to the Russian Ukranian war.
The Russian Federal Customs Service have released this video in which airport security are seen going through the luggage of a passenger identified as Brittney Griner. pic.twitter.com/gHJ8XoMYvF
– Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) March 5, 2022
If convicted in Russia, she could face up to 10 years in jail.Her charges could be “large-scale transportation of drugs”, the Times reported.
WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner has been detained and arrested at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow after arriving on a flight from New York. Vapes which were believed to be hashish oil were found in her backpack when sniffing dogs detected them. The bag was x-rayed and the item was confirmed the Russian Federal Customs Service.
Griner is not the first US citizen to have been held in custody by Russian police as tensions between the countries have soared, prompting accusations by American officials that Moscow is using the detentions as bargaining chips for a potential prisoner exchange for near term and future actions.
In January, Russian officials announced that US teacher Marc Fogel was earlier arrested in a Moscow airport with marijuana and cannabis
