Brittney Griner, the women’s basketball star who played for the UMMC in Russia, was charged with drug trafficking. She was caught red-handed at Sheremetyevo Airport at the end of February 2022. She is now interchangeable with Russian businessman Viktor Bout, who is called the “gun lord” she.

Greiner is the best basketball player. She has won the Olympics, the World Championships, the Women’s NBA, the Euroleague and of course the Russian Super League. Brittney has been playing for Russian club UMMC from Yekaterinburg since 2015, so she should be familiar with Russian laws and regulations. But this winter, something went wrong.

Arriving in Moscow from New York, the American passed through the green corridor, where the customs dog “was a signal about the possible presence of drugs in the trunk.” An examination of her hand luggage confirmed that the American woman had “vapors” with a liquid with a specific odor. The review determined that the liquid was a drug-containing “mixed oil.” For such a violation, the article provides for a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years.

The 31-year-old athlete was arrested on March 5 on drug trafficking charges. Regarding the American, a preventive measure was chosen in the form of detention. The case resonated as far as it could get and caused anticipated outrage on the other side of the ocean. In America, they demanded Greiner’s immediate release. US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee even approached the State Department to investigate the situation. According to Sheila, Brittney was just a guest in Russia and has a long list of titles. The congressman did not specify how this exempted him from liability.

However, the Moscow district court recognized the arrest of the two-time Olympic champion as legal. At the end of March, he extended his athletes for two more months. The American woman’s lawyers sought a very drastic measure of restraint, although the fact that Greiner had drugs in her luggage was not disputed. The prosecutor declared that the arrest of the athlete was “lawful and justified” and that there was no reason to mitigate the preventive measure, that since the basketball player is a foreign national, he has no permanent residence and no permanent registration. In Russia.

White House representatives came to defend Brittney. Yes, Washington press secretary Jennifer Psaki He said the strained relations between Russia and the United States could affect the basketball player’s ability to return home. At the same time, Psaki assured that the White House is doing everything possible to help the Olympic champion. Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also supported Greiner and urged Russia to urgently release the basketball player she wrote about on her social networks.

And on May 13, a number of media outlets, citing the Moscow Region Public Monitoring Commission (POC), reported that negotiations are underway on the exchange of a Russian businessman. Victor Bout to Gainer. Chairman of the Commission Sergei Leonov he also told RIA Novosti that he did not know about possible negotiations on the stock market.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t go. Dubbed a “gun lord,” Bout has served half his 25-year sentence in an American prison on charges of conspiracy to kill citizens. United States of America and financial support for terrorism. was detained in Thailand It was transferred to the USA in 2008.

Interesting that it wasn’t so long ago America and the US has already exchanged prisoners. Russian pilot Dmitry Yaroshenko returned to his homeland in exchange for a senior sailor Trevor Reidwho was accused of assaulting a police officer. As a result, he was sentenced to nine years in prison. Russia. Yaroshenko was accused of drug trafficking. It’s still unclear how Greiner and Booth’s story will end.