NIGHTMARE

Russia Jails Disney Executive After Airport Baggage Search

The manager was sentenced after a Russian court rejected a cannabis prescription defense.

A Moscow judge has sentenced a Walt Disney Company manager to 2.5 years in prison on drug smuggling charges after THC-infused gummies were found in his luggage. Russian state media reported on Friday that Daterao Jugal Sudhir, 46, flew to Russia from Qatar in January 2026 and was detained at the airport after the gummies were found during a routine baggage inspection. He said the gummies had been prescribed by a doctor in the U.S. following brain surgery. According to his LinkedIn profile, Sudhir has worked as an Enterprise Program Manager at The Walt Disney Company since 2019 and is based in New York. He has been identified as an Indian national, and it is unclear whether he also holds U.S. citizenship. The verdict was handed down by Judge Anna Sotnikova, who in 2022 sentenced American basketball player Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after she was detained at a Moscow airport for possessing a vape containing hash oil. She was released in a prisoner exchange in December 2022. The Daily Beast has reached out to Disney for comment.