The WNBA, Team USA and the Phoenix Mercury have all released statements on Saturday amid reports that American basketball star Brittney Griner has been arrested in Russia.
Griner is reportedly being detained in Russia after the Russian Federal Customs Service found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow, according to The New York Times. Although the Customs Service did not originally reveal the detainee’s identity, Russian news agency TASS, citing a law enforcement source, later identified the individual as Griner.
According to the Customs Service statement, a criminal case involving the American basketball player “has been opened into the large-scale transportation of drugs,” which can carry a jail sentence of up to 10 years in Russia. The basketball player was allegedly taken into custody in February and the investigation is still ongoing, officials told the NYT.
