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Google PlayWNBA All-Star Brittney Griner is facing 5 to 10 years in Russian prison after she was allegedly caught with a vape pen filled with cannabis.
The New York Times reports the Phoenix Mercury star was detained by the Russian Federal Customs Service after they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow.
USA Basketball confirmed the news in a tweet on Saturday, writing, “USA Basketball is aware of and closely monitoring the legal situation facing Brittney Griner in Russia. Brittney has always handled herself with the utmost professionalism during her long tenure with USA Basketball and her safety and wellbeing are our primary concerns.”
In a video obtained by New York Times, Griner is seen going through security when a customs employee removes something from her bag.
Independent Russian news agency Interfax claimed the arrest happened in February, just after Griner had arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport from New York. A drug sniffing dog discovered narcotics in Griner’s luggage, and when the bag was X-rayed, “so-called ‘vapes’” were discovered “with a specific odor.”
Griner was allegedly taken into custody in February and the investigation is still ongoing, officials said, per the NYT.
The news arrives just over a week after Russia launched what was initially described by President Vladimir Putin as a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Read everything you need to know about the Ukraine-Russia situation here.
