Table of Contents
Topline
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner has been detained by the Russian Federal Customs Provider after vape cartridges containing a narcotic had been allegedly came all the intention in which by intention of in her baggage upon touchdown at Sheremetyevo airport stop to Moscow, the Original York Conditions and USA Lately reported Saturday.
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner competes in Game Four of the 2021 WNBA semifinals at … [+] Footprint Heart on October 06, 2021, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Photographs)
Key Info
Russian Federal Customs Provider acknowledged it detained a “knowledgeable basketball participant, a member of the US Nationwide Basketball Association, a two-time Olympic basketball champion within the US group” – whom the Russian recordsdata agency TASS identified, citing sources, as Griner.
Customs officers identified vapes containing a liquid in a U.S. citizen’s baggage that grew to turn into out to be “cannabis oil (hash oil), which is a narcotic substance,” USA Lately reported.
In Russia, transporting treatment would possibly well well maybe elevate a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, and a prison case has been opened into Griner’s case, the Conditions reported.
Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas acknowledged in a assertion to Forbes, “We’re responsive to the concern with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in stop contact alongside with her, her apt illustration in Russia, her family, her groups, and the WNBA and NBA.”
USA Basketball tweeted Saturday it is “responsive to and carefully monitoring the apt worry” Griner is going by intention of in Russia, alongside side that her security is its valuable articulate.
The U.S. Command Department issued a warning Saturday for People to leave Russia “without lengthen,” and entreated them to now not shuttle there, warning of attainable harassment by Russian security officers and arbitrary enforcement of local guidelines, whereas the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for the time being has “restricted skill” to wait on People.
Key Background
Griner, 31, is a seven-time WNBA All-Neatly-known individual and has gained two Olympic gold medals. Admire a different of WNBA avid gamers, Griner performs in Russia within the iciness off-season to complement her profits. She has performed for Russia’s Yekaterinburg UMMC since 2015. The WNBA suggested the Conditions that all of its avid gamers have left Russia and Ukraine, excluding Griner. The WNBA failed to without lengthen respond to a Forbes ask for observation.
Extra Discovering out
Russia Says It Has American Basketball Participant in Custody (Original York Conditions)
WNBA broad name Brittney Griner detained in Russia on drug charges (USA Lately)
