WNBA star Brittney Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in February in Russia on drug smuggling charges and could be facing 5-10 years in prison in the country, per Russian news outlet Interfax.
Griner was spending the offseason playing in the Euroleague and was heading to Moscow from New York last month before officials found vape cartridges in her luggage, which are illegal in Russia. A drug-sniffing dog ultimately found cannabis oil, aka weed, in her bag and later identified her as a WNBA player. There has been no indication that Brittany Griner has been released.
The 31-year-old hasn't posted on Instagram since February 5th, which is concerning in itself. The Mercury have yet to comment on the situation, but it must be extremely scary for Griner, who is stuck in a foreign country in custody.
Griner has actually been playing in the WNBA offseason in Russia for Ekaterinburg since 2015 without running into any issues. Here is the statement from Russian officials:
“As a U.S. citizen was passing through the green channel at Sheremetyevo Airport upon arriving from New York, a working dog from the Sheremetyevo Customs canine department detected the possible presence of narcotic substances in the accompanying luggage,” the Russian Federal Customs Service said in a statement. “The customs inspection of the hand luggage being carried by the U.S. citizen confirmed the presence of vapes with specifically-smelling liquid, and an expert determined that the liquid was cannabis oil (hash oil), which is a narcotic substance.”
Brittney Griner is a former Baylor standout and has been playing in the WNBA for many years and is one of the more high-profile names in the league. It will be interesting to see what happens with this situation, especially amid the turmoil between Russia and Ukraine.
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