WNBA star Britney Griner arrested in Russia for Drugs

[jack]

Russia says it's holding an American WNBA star in custody after discovering vapes and hashish oil in her luggage​

• WNBA star Britney Griner was detained at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, according to The New York Times.
• Griner, 31, was detained as a "preventative measure," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
• Griner's team the Phoenix Mercury released a statement saying they are "closely monitoring the situation."
• 

Seven-time WNBA All-Star player Brittney Griner is being held in custody by Russian officials after she was arrested at a Moscow airport.

Vape cartridges containing hashish oil were found in her luggage at Sheremetyevo Airport after she arrived in Russia from New York, according to The New York Times.

Russian news sources said she was arrested in February. Russia's Interfax news agency said a drug-sniffing dog uncovered "so-called 'vapes'" in her luggage with the "narcotic drug cannabis oil."

"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, according to multiple reports. "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."

Griner was detained as a "preventive measure," Interfax said. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in a Russian prison, according to The Times.

Griner's team the Phoenix Mercury released a statement saying they were "closely monitoring" the situation and remain in contact with her family and representation.

Griner, 31, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. She also won gold while playing for the US women's national basketball team in 2021 and 2016.

 

[jack]

Griner, 31, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. She also won gold while playing for the US women's national basketball team in 2021 and 2016.

 

[USUC]

I wonder if this arrest is related to the U.S. involvement in the Russian “peace keeping mission” in Ukraine.

 

[jack]

Or perhaps....it's just one of those "tragic coincidences"

 

[jack]

This Brittney Griner update is terrifying​

Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner could face up to 10 years in a Russian prison if she is convicted on drug charges in Russia.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, professional basketball players abroad tweeted out to let fans know they were safely removed from conflict. Still, there are prominent female basketball players who remain in Russia, which has become more contentious as American and Russian relations worsen as the conflict intensifies.

Increasing the geopolitical tension is the Russian apprehension of WNBA star Brittney Griner, the Phoenix Mercury center and seven-time WNBA All-Star who plays abroad during the WNBA offseason. Russian police have detained Griner and released a photo of her holding a sign with her name in a Russian police station. The photo, which bears similarities to the images released by political terrorists holding captive prisoners, has the U.S. State Department concerned about Griner’s welfare.

CNN reported that no one knows of Griner’s exact location at the moment, and because she has been accused of smuggling cannabis oil through a Russian airport, she could face up to 10 years in a Russian prison.

According to CNN correspondent Rosa Flores, there is also concern that the Russian government could use Griner as a negotiating tool as the crisis worsens.

WNBA star Brittney Griner now detained in Russian custody for alleged cannabis oil possession​

While cannabis use is legalized in pockets throughout the United States, Russia has a notoriously strict policy on illicit substances, including marijuana. Griner has been accused of transpoting hashish oil in vape cartridges at Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow as she tried to leave the country amid crisis.

Sportico spoke with legal expert on Russian law William Butler on what the Russian detainment means for Griner.

“Russia has a zero tolerance of narcotics,” Butler said, stressing that the Russian Federal Customs Service’s statement concerning a “large-scale transportation of drugs,” is critical. “This means that she allegedly had enough with her to constitute a substantial amount. That does make the potential penalty more severe.”

For those wondering why the decorated WNBA player was in Russia in the first place, it’s for one simple reason: WNBA players make more spending their offseason Europe than they do in the United States. Griner has spent her last seven offseasons playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, which allows players like her to earn more than $1 million per year.

“This is the big paycheck — for all of us,” former Mercury assistant coach Todd Troxel, who also coached for UMMC, told ESPN in 2016. “We all love Phoenix, but ultimately it’s all about here,” he said in regards to Russia.

Griner, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA, will be severely missed if she is absent from the WNBA this season.

 

[USUC]

In the meantime Venezuela released two
American prisoners today. Coincidence or ya’ think they hope we’ll loosen sanctions and buy oil from them?
Crazy times.
Putin is just adding justifications for the US and NATO to get directly, militarily involved (and calls to do that are getting louder). Nice bombing of a maternity/children’s hospital in Mariupol today.

 

[jack]

Basketball star Brittney Griner’s disappearance​

American WNBA star Brittney Griner has still not returned home after being detained in Moscow amid the war in Ukraine.


Brittney Griner was last seen on camera walking through an airport just outside of Moscow. The footage shows her towering over customs agents at 6’9″.


She is last seen shaking her head at a customs agent – and a Russian mugshot of Griner appears on our TV screens weeks later.

The 31-year-old athlete is widely considered the best in her sport, and though it has been a month since her detention, little is currently known about her circumstances.


Some are upset about a lack of coverage, saying that if she were a male athlete of her stature, the news would be front-page across nearly every sports news outlet in the U.S.


Melissa Isaacson, a sportswriter and professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, says she is “the best of the best,” and that “she’s every bit the Tom Brady of her sport.”


Her accomplishments include winning a college championship, WNBA and Euroleague titles and an Olympic gold medal.


Griner is also the first openly gay athlete to be endorsed by Nike.

Her detention is particularly precarious given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it’s causing many to look at why she was there in the first place.


Nearly half of WNBA players compete overseas during the off-season as a way to make more money – reportedly earning five times more in Russia than in the U.S.


NBA stars make an estimate of 200 times more than the maximum WNBA salary.


Although Griner was arrested due to having hashish oil vape cartridges in her luggage, many people are upset that she was there in the first place, citing gender inequality as the reason.


Her disappearance is still the most important issue at the moment, and U.S. congressman John Garamendi states, “We don’t want Ms. Griner to become a pawn in the political battle that’s being waged throughout the world right now.”

Russia has reportedly blocked consular access to Griner for the U.S. embassy.

Additionally, drug charges can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in Russia.

Over 60,000 people have signed a petition demanding the U.S. government to prioritize Griner’s return, and to treat her like any other sports icon.

 

[jack]

.

 

[jack]

.

 

[USUC]

It’s a tough situation. Her loved ones are being advised not to make a loud stink about her detention because in some respects that increases the likelihood that she will be used as a pawn.
Or said differently a louder outcry/demand for her return by the U.S. isn’t necessarily in her best interests in the moment. She might fare better under the radar.
Sucks though.

 

[jack]

She's potentially going to do 10 years at a labor camp.

 

[jack]

She's potentially going to do 10 years at a labor camp.

Yep

 

[jack]

U.S. government may not want Dennis Rodman to go to Russia to try to help Brittney Griner​

Five-time NBA champion and Basketball Hall of Fame forward Dennis Rodman said he plans to visit Russia to advocate for Brittney Griner. A hostage negotiator told Insider that Rodman’s proposed visit is a “terrible idea” and one that could potentially put the former NBA player in danger. The U.S. Department of State has issued a strong advisory to not travel to Russia. Rodman, however, likely believes otherwise. He described Putin as “cool” after he took a trip to Moscow in 2014. He has also maintained a friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Here is the latest update on the developing story (via NBC News):

“Former NBA player Dennis Rodman said Saturday that he plans to visit Russia to seek the release of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges earlier this month.
‘I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,’ Rodman told NBC News at a restaurant in D.C. “I’m trying to go this week.'”

The U.S. government, however, may not actually want Rodman to do this:

“He is more likely to hurt than help, said a senior Biden administration official.
‘It’s public information that the administration has made a significant offer to the Russians and anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder release efforts,’ said the official.”

 

[jack]

Griner, 31, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. She also won gold while playing for the US women's national basketball team in 2021 and 2016.

 

[jack]

In the meantime Venezuela released two
American prisoners today. Coincidence or ya’ think they hope we’ll loosen sanctions and buy oil from them?
Crazy times.
Putin is just adding justifications for the US and NATO to get directly, militarily involved (and calls to do that are getting louder). Nice bombing of a maternity/children’s hospital in Mariupol today.

 

[jack]

She's potentially going to do 10 years at a labor camp.

 

[jack]

 

[jack]

Griner, 31, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. She also won gold while playing for the US women's national basketball team in 2021 and 2016.

 

[jack]

After Biden Meeting, Brittney Griner's Wife Recalls 'Grueling 7 Months'​

The families of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, U.S. citizens detained in Russia, pushed for their loved ones' release during separate meeting with President Joe Biden on Friday. But relatives said that each passing day still feels like a "waiting game." Paul Whelan is a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Russia after being arrested in 2018 on espionage charges. His sister, Elizabeth Whelan, called the opportunity to meet with Biden "an exceptional honor," and she promised to continue advocating for her brother and "all other Americans wrongfully detained." "Hostage-diplomacy is a national security as well as a humanitarian issue," she wrote to Newsweek. "When hostile foreign nations take Americans and hold them as pawns, we must work together with vigor to reunite those wrongfully detained with their families, and deter these countries from continuing this malign practice."

 

[jack]

• WNBA star Britney Griner was detained at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, according to The New York Times.
• Griner, 31, was detained as a "preventative measure," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
• Griner's team the Phoenix Mercury released a statement saying they are "closely monitoring the situation."