MOSCOW: Russia said Saturday it had arrested an American woman who is a two-time Olympic basketball champion on narcotics charges as tensions between Moscow and the West soar over Russia's military actions in Ukraine.
A statement by the Russian Federal Customs Service said that an inspection of hand luggage carried by a US citizen who arrived on a flight from New York in February "confirmed the presence of 'vapes' (and) a liquid with a specific smell".
An expert had found that the liquid was the narcotic cannabis oil (hash oil), the statement said.
The statement did not provide the identity of the jailed woman but said that she was "a member of the US National Basketball Association, a two-time Olympic basketball champion in the US team".
The detained woman faces a potential jail term of 5 to 10 years, the customs service said.
Many women basketballers who play in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) spend the American off-season playing in European leagues, including the Russian and Ukrainian leagues.
Russia says it has arrested US Olympic basketball champion for narcotics
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Russia says it has arrested US Olympic basketball champion for narcotics
- An expert had found that the liquid was the narcotic cannabis oil
- The statement did not provide the identity of the jailed woman
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
