As other countries around the globe have worked to introduce varying degrees of cannabis reform, it has shed light on other countries that still harshly penalize cannabis possession—especially as cannabis access improves in certain regions and travelers potentially bring products to places they shouldn’t.
Russia is making headlines once again after authorities arrested a German citizen over the possession of cannabis gummies and accusations of drug smuggling.
According to the Russian state news agency Tass, 38-year-old Patrick Schobel was detained at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg in late January after Russia’s Federal Customs Service inspected his luggage and found a pack of “Fink Green Goldbears,” with six total gummies and packaging that displayed a cannabis leaf.
Schobel had traveled to Russia to visit a friend and told authorities he had brought a total of 10 gummies from Germany to invite more “restful sleep” on the flight, according to Russian customs. The gummies were tested in the airport and found to contain THC, which is banned in Russia. Customs officials also claimed the gummies had a “pungent smell.” The customs service also published a picture of a German passport, the six gummies and the package with the cannabis leaf.
Schobel faces up to seven years in prison for smuggling drugs and will remain in custody until at least March 15, per Tass and Russian customs.
German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner confirmed that a German national had been arrested, that Russian authorities had informed the German consulate and that German officials have been in touch with Schobel’s lawyers.
The arrest comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested he would be discussing a prisoner swap for a Russian imprisoned for murder in Germany with Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. reporter who was arrested last year on espionage charges while traveling in Russia for work.
The Russian prisoner in question is Vadim Krasikov, who was jailed in Germany after killing Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in 2019 in a Berlin park. Berlin has yet to comment on whether it would be willing to swap Krasikov for an American citizen. A prisoner swap between three countries is fairly rare, though Putin said that Russia is “ready to solve it, but there are certain conditions that are being discussed between special services. I believe an agreement can be reached.”
The German judges who convicted Krasikov said he had acted on the orders of Russian authorities, who gave him a false identity, fake passport and means to carry out the killing.
Russia has been accused of targeting foreign citizens to use them as a bargaining measure to negotiate the release of Russian prisoners in other companies, though the Russian government has denied it.
One of the most prominent and recent examples is WNBA player Brittney Griner, who spent 10 months in Russian custody after a small amount of cannabis oil was found in her luggage. Griner was ultimately released after U.S. and Russian officials negotiated a prisoner swap: Griner was allowed release after the U.S. freed Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who had been serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.
The case echoed that of 61-year-old school teacher Marc Fogel, who was similarly arrested in Russia in 2022 after authorities found medical cannabis among his possessions. Fogel is still in custody and serving a 14-year sentence in a Russian penal colony for possession of 17 grams of cannabis and has yet to be classified as wrongfully detained.
In December 2023, 15 bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to request that any future prisoner swaps with Russia include Fogel.
