By Jasper Ward
Feb 17 (Reuters) – Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton was briefly detained on Tuesday at Lynden Pindling International Airport in the Bahamas on suspicion of being in possession of a small amount of marijuana, his lawyer and two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The sources said Ayton, a native of the Bahamas, had been arrested and detained after being found with marijuana. But Ayton’s lawyer, Devard Francis, told Reuters he was not arrested and only briefly detained before being released.
“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 said.
Francis said the marijuana had been in someone else’s bag.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Lakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Although the archipelago has taken steps to legalize marijuana for medical and religious purposes, the drug remains illegal in the Bahamas.
The former number one draft pick signed a two-year deal to join the Lakers last summer after stints with the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers. He missed his second consecutive game for the Lakers last Thursday.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington, editing by Ross Colvin, David Gregorio and Neil Fullick)
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