Brazilian beach soccer player sentenced in Russia to 5 years and 2 months for hashish smuggling

Brazilian women's beach soccer team player Leticia Villar Pais was sentenced in Russia to 5 years and 2 months for smuggling and possession of hashish.

Letizia Villar Pais carried hashish with a total weight of 6.13 grams in her hand luggage when crossing the border between Estonia and Russia.

The court found Villar Pais guilty of drug smuggling and illegal possession of drugs in a significant amount.

MOSCOW, September 6 - RIA Novosti. Brazilian women's beach soccer team player Leticia Villar Pais was sentenced in Russia to 5 years and 2 months for smuggling and possession of hashish, according to court materials available to RIA Novosti.

They indicate that a Brazilian citizen, who played for the Lokomotiv school from St. Petersburg, carried hashish with a total weight of 6.13 grams in her hand luggage when crossing the border between Estonia and Russia.

The border guards were prompted to carry out a thorough search by the reaction of a service dog “buried in a bag,” it follows from the materials. The athlete was detained at a customs checkpoint in the Leningrad region and was soon placed in a pre-trial detention center.

The court found Villar Pais guilty of drug smuggling and illegal possession of drugs without the intent to sell in a significant amount. She was sentenced to 5 years and 2 months in a general regime colony, according to the materials.

The girl admitted guilt, the documents say. The athlete cited mental health problems due to divorce and difficulties in her career, so the doctors, according to her, prescribed medications containing cannabinoids, “the use of which is legal in many countries,” the materials say.

They emphasize that she bought hashish in Europe and took it to Russia, “being confident that it was also legal here.”

The sentence came into force this summer.