The American player Brittney Griner, WNBA star, was arrested at a Russian airport accused of having cartridges with hash oil for vaping, The New York Times reported this Saturday.
The newspaper, citing sources from the customs service and the Russian agency TASS, assured that Griner She was arrested in February but could not specify the day.
In a video released by the Russian customs service a woman with the appearance of Griner appears passing a security check and, later, airport workers are seen checking his luggage.
‘The New York Times’ assured that the Russian authorities have opened a case for “large-scale drug transport,” which could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Both the WNBA and the league players union This Saturday they showed their support for Griner and their confidence that he can return to the US as soon as possible.
Griner, 31, is with Diana Taurasi the main reference for the Phoenix Mercury, with whom he won the WNBA in 2014.
The Mercury played the WNBA final last year but ended up falling to the Chicago Sky.
Regarded as one of the most dominant centers in the league, Griner She has been selected seven times for the WNBA All-Star and also has two Olympic gold medals with the US team.
Like other American players, Griner took advantage of the months when there is no WNBA competition to play in Russia, where her salary at UMMC Ekaterinburg (more than a million dollars per season) is more than four times higher than the maximum can be received by agreement in the WNBA ($228,094 cap for this course).
