The Russian Federal Customs Service announced on Saturday that its agents had detained an American basketball player after finding cannabis oil in vaping cartridges in her luggage.
The Customs Service noted that the player is a member of the WNBA and had won two gold medals on the U.S. Olympic team, without directly naming the player. However, a Russian security source identified the player as Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, in comments to the Russian News Agency TASS.
The Customs Service has opened a criminal investigation into the incident, which could result in a five- to ten-year prison sentence according to Russian drug-smuggling law. The agency and TASS said the detention occurred in February, but an exact date was not immediately available.
The report comes the same day that the U.S. State Department again issued a travel advisory warning Americans not to fly to Russia, citing Russia’s “unprovoked” attack on Ukraine and “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials.”
Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, did not deny the reports of Griner’s detention.
“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” Kagawa Colas said in a statement. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”
Griner has played in Russia for the past seven years and is currently a member of UMMC Ekaterinburg. Many WNBA players compete during the offseason in Russia and Ukraine, where they can earn higher salaries.
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