Brittney Griner is an American basketballer, who was arrested and detained in Russia after vape cartridges were discovered in her luggage; Brittney Griner, a star WNBA player who was playing for a Russian women’s basketball team, was arrested at a Moscow-area airport.
The Customs Service confirmed to the New York Times that a two-time gold medalist athlete matching Griner’s description had been arrested at the Sheremetyevo airport, and later released video footage of the athlete — which a Russian news agency reported was Griner, and added that the arrest took place in February — having their luggage searched at security, where the cannabis oil-filled cartridges were discovered in a carry-on bag.
Griner was detained until the outcome of the investigation. In Russia, drug transportation can result in a ten-year prison sentence.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a warning to U.S. citizens in Russia last week, “An increasing number of airlines are cancelling flights into and out of Russia, and numerous countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines. U.S. citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available.”
WNBA players like Griner, who has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014, and her Mercury teammate Diane Taurasi, who spent 10 years in the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League before 2017, flock to Russia (and, to a lesser extent, Ukraine) during the WNBA offseason because the country offers women basketball players lucrative contracts that sometimes exceed what they are paid in the United States.
However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all WNBA athletes evacuated the nation, with U.S. athletes in Russia doing the same in recent days as the crisis raged.
Brittney Griner Career
Griner spent nine seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, who were defeated by Chicago in the WNBA Finals last October. In 2014, she won a championship with the Mercury, and in 2016 and 2021, she won gold medals with the United States at the Olympics.
Rivals.com ranked Griner the nation’s top high school women’s basketball player in 2009. Griner was named to the All-American basketball team of the Phoenix Mercury in 2009. She won the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete in 2012. Griner was a member of the 2016 USA Olympic Women’s team, and she was instrumental in the team’s win at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Griner earned a Nike sponsorship agreement in 2013.
Griner was announced as a member of Team USA Women’s Basketball for the 2020 Olympic Games in June 2021.
