It’s not even clear when US basketball star Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia on drug charges.
CNN — It’s not even clear when US basketball star Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia on drug charges. But family and friends are demanding the two-time Olympic champion’s release. And hundreds of strangers have joined the effort as US-Russian tensions escalate amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Griner,31, is a championship-winning player with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and spends her offseasons playing for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg. The Russian Federal Customs Service said an American at Sheremetyevo Airport was carrying hash oil. Russia’s Interfax News Agency quoted a statement from the Customs Service, which did not identify the traveler by name: «As a US 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 statement said. «The customs inspection of the hand luggage being carried by the US 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.» The New York Times was first to report Griner’s arrest. It’s unclear exactly when Griner was detained at the airport, and her whereabouts since her arrest remain uncertain. Griner’s ordeal comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine is in its second week. President Vladimir Putin issued a series of threats Saturday against Ukraine and Western powers, saying the sanctions introduced on his country are «equivalent of a declaration of war.» A member of the US House Armed Services Committee said «it’s going to be very difficult» to get Griner out of Russia. «Our diplomatic relationships with Russia are nonexistent at the moment,» Democratic Rep. John Garamendi of California told CNN on Monday. «Perhaps during the various negotiations that may take place, she might be able to be one of the solutions.
