Indian-Origin Executive Arrested In Russia for Drug Trafficking

Indian-origin executive at The Walt Disney Company has been imprisoned in a Russina penal colony for two-and-a-half years after the authorities found THC-laden gummies in his luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. THC is the psychoactive chemical in cannabis, and is considered a narcotic under Russian law.

Jugal Daterao Sudhir, 46, was found guilty by a Russian court of drug trafficking and possessing drugs. Russian state media TASS reported that the Customs officials found cannabis-infused gummy sweets while inspecting his baggage, after arriving in Russia from Qatar in January 2026.

The court in Russia’s Moscow region convicted Daterao of drug smuggling. He was also fined 30,000 roubles, which amount to $420.

Though Datero argued that the gummies had been legally prescribed in the US to help manage the complications of brain surgery, the court rejected the defence and found him guilty under Russian drug laws. He said that a cancerous lump was removed from his brain in the US.

Jugal Daterao works in New York and has been employed at Disney.com since 2019. A technology and project management professional, he worked as an Enterprise Program Manager at The Walt Disney Company.

He has taken up more than 20 large initiatives, ranging from advertising content supply chains to cloud computing, AI, machine learning.

Before working in Disney, he worked at KickApps Corporation, Doctations, WWE, Usablenet, High 5 Games. His social media profiles claim that he is based in the US state of New Jersey.

It is still unclear if Daterao holds US citizenship.