Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton was briefly detained Tuesday while at an airport in the Bahamas on suspicion of being in possession of a “very small amount of marijuana,” according to Ayton’s lawyer, Devard Francis.
Ayton, a native of the Bahamas who has also served as a member of the men’s national team, was detained at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau. Francis said the marijuana had been in someone else’s bag and Ayton was quickly released after a brief investigation.
“The investigators saw that the actual very small amount of marijuana wasn’t in Deandre’s bag, but they still went through their investigations and he was released expeditiously,” Francis told Reuters in a statement.
As of the most recent CBA agreement, players are no longer tested for marijuana and it has been removed from the banned substance list. But marijuana remains illegal in the Bahamas.
Ayton, 27, is in his first season with the Lakers, who return from the All-Star break on Friday at home against the LA Clippers.
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