Russia arrests former US diplomat for trafficking drugs

• Marc Fogel is the most recent American to become entangled in Russia’s legal system.
• Fogel worked at the U.S. embassy in Moscow and enjoyed diplomatic immunity until 2021.
• Russian officials say marijuana and hash oil were found in contact lens boxes and e-cigarette cartridges.

A court in Moscow has sentenced a former US diplomat to 14 years in prison for “large-scale” cannabis smuggling, making him the most recent American to become entangled in Russia’s legal system.

In these scenes reminiscent of the Cold War, Russia and the United States frequently battle over the detention of one another’s citizens and even exchange detainees.

After Moscow began its military action in pro-Western Ukraine, ties between Moscow and the West, especially Washington, have become tight.

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By crossing the Russian border, Fogel was accused of “large-scale drug smuggling” and “large-scale illegal storage of drugs without a commercial purpose.”

In January, Russian authorities said that Fogel was detained by customs agents upon his arrival from New York with his wife at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.

“During customs checks, marijuana and hash oil were found in his luggage,” according to officials, who added that the contraband were concealed in contact lens boxes and e-cigarette cartridges.

The event occurred in August of 2021.

Fogel, a teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow, said that the medical marijuana was given to the man in the U.S. after he had surgery on his spine.

Russia has not made cannabis use for medical purposes legal.

According to Russian officials, Fogel worked at the US embassy in Moscow and enjoyed diplomatic immunity until May 2021.

Several Americans are being held in Russian prisons and vice versa.

In April, the United States traded former American marine Trevor Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for assault by a Russian court, for a Russian pilot who had been imprisoned in the United States since 2010.

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The arrest of Griner occurred days before Russia rejected U.S. warnings and pushed troops into Ukraine at the end of February.