Saint Petersburg: Video is said to show drugs found by a German in Russia – arrest

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This control in Russia is about to come to a bad end. A German citizen and passenger are involved - and the security forces at Saint Petersburg airport.

»Yeah, that's not Haribo, okay?”

“Not Haribo, huh?”

“But it's wine gum. It's wine gum."

"No!"

"Give it to me. I'll show you, okay? Don't say: No, no. Look, it's wine gum. I can show it to you. I'll open it."

"Wine gum is cannabis?"

"No!"

"No?"

"It's fucking wine gum!"

The recordings published by the Russian customs authorities are said to show the search and arrest of a German citizen. According to authorities, the 38-year-old flew from Hamburg via Istanbul to St. Petersburg to meet a woman he met on the Internet.

Marina Guzikova, spokeswoman for the customs authority

»When searching the backpack, the customs officers seized a hard plastic bag with the inscription “Fink Green Goldbears” and a picture of a cannabis plant. The package contained six brown gummy bears with a pungent scent. The whole thing weighs around 20 grams. A rapid test confirmed that the sweets contain THC - a narcotic that is not allowed to be imported. The foreigner explained that he bought the gummy bears in his home country and would eat them on long flights to sleep better. The man was arrested.”

According to the authorities, such an offense can be punished with up to seven years in prison.

Christian Wagner, spokesman for the Foreign Office

“I can confirm that we are aware of the case and that it concerns a person with German nationality. After the arrest, the Russian authorities informed our Consulate General about the arrest. In this respect, we provide the detainee with consular support as to how this can be done. We are in contact with his lawyers about this.”

However, according to SPIEGEL information, Russia is denying German diplomats direct access to the man.

His arrest is likely to further strain relations between Russia and Western countries. Western diplomats accuse Russia of imprisoning Western citizens in exchange for releasing imprisoned Russian criminals or making other political demands.