Did Brittney Griner get arrested again in Brussels? Athlete trends over illegal contraband arrest claim

Unfounded rumors of Brittney Griner’s arrest recently emerged on social media, with the claim that she was detained with illegal contraband. 

The WNBA star was previously apprehended in Russia in 2022 and remained imprisoned for months before her return to the US. After the unverified social media reports about the Atlanta Dream player surfaced online, she also started trending on Google, with users enquiring about her arrest. 

The claim appears to have originated from a Facebook page called Inspired & Empower. A post on Monday, November 24, asserted that Brittney Griner was stopped at a Brussels, Belgium, airport with "a large amount of illegal contraband." The page claimed that the WNBA player had counterfeit sports cards. 

According to the claim, Brittney Griner was accused of engaging in millions of US dollars in fraud and might face up to six years in jail. The post went viral, with many people believing the report to be accurate. However, no evidence suggests that Griner was recently arrested in Brussels or elsewhere. 

Neither has any credible outlet reported the WNBA champion’s detention, nor have Belgian Customs authorities issued a statement related to the same. It’s not the first time Griner has been targeted in fake social media reports. Similar posts have emerged multiple times with different claims about her arrest. 

According to The Spun, Griner started trending in October 2025, after Jared Shaw, a former men's college basketball player, was arrested in Indonesia. Many were curious about the Atlanta Dream pro’s 2022 arrest in Russia. 

Brittney Griner was arrested at Moscow airport and sentenced to nine years, before a 1-for-1 prisoner swap

In 2022, the 10-time WNBA All-Star was representing the Russia-based UMMC Ekaterinburg when she got arrested. Griner was detained at the Sheremetyevo International Airport in February. The officials alleged that she was carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis extract in her luggage. 

In March, the news of Griner’s detention broke, and her wife, Cherelle, addressed the same in an Instagram post, according to People. She wrote: 

“We love you babe! People say 'stay busy.' Yet, there's not a task in this world that could keep any of us from wondering if you are safe."

She added:

“My heart, our hearts, are all skipping beats every day that goes by without hearing from you. I miss your voice. I miss your presence. You're our person! There are no words to express this pain. I'm hurting, we're hurting. We await the day to love on you as a family."

Months after the reports of her arrest emerged, the US government classified Brittney Griner as “wrongfully detained.” In July, the player underwent a trial and was sentenced to nine years and fined one million rubles. In November, her lawyers confirmed that Griner was transferred to IK-2 female penal colony in Yavas, a town seven hours away from Moscow. 

Amid the reports of the Russian penal colony being one of the harshest, her lawyers told People: 

“Brittney is doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment.” 

Griner was eventually released in December with a 1-for-1 prisoner exchange between the US and Russia. According to CBS News, Brittney’s freedom was traded for that of international arms dealer Viktor Bout. Remarking on the WNBA champion’s release, the then-President Joe Biden remarked: 

“After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along. This is a day we've worked toward for a long time. We never stopped pushing for her release.” 

Earlier this year, a similar case of another US national made headlines. Marc Fogel, a teacher, was detained in August 2021 for allegedly carrying 17 grams of medical marijuana. After spending over three years in prison, Fogel was released by Russia. He also met Trump at the White House after landing in the US.