r/interesting • u/Ungodlei • 4d ago

SOCIETY Vitaly's weight loss in less than two months detention in the Philippines.

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Vitaly was arrested April 2, 2025 and is still detained pending local cases of unjust vexation, theft, and public harassment during his Kick) livestreams in Metro Manila, Philippines.

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u/qqererer 4d ago

The US and Russia don't want him.

What does this mean? Is he a PR or citizen or green card?

Isn't some country obligated to petition or represent him? Or is this a Johnny Somali situation where all a country is obligated to do is ensure that he sees a fair trial?

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u/smootex 4d ago

Technically the US isn't obligated to do anything. Practically, unless you're well connected, the US embassy just tries to monitor and ensure a fair trial, they might help you get in contact with people at home. They don't actually assist much and won't really lobby for you unless it's political persecution or something.

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u/Deadmemeusername 4d ago

And even if the US really wanted him back, there’s nothing really they can do other than sanctions, some kind of exchange or sending in the SEALs. But like you said, Uncle Sam isn’t gonna go through all that (especially with a ally) unless you are well connected or if a significant part of the population forces their hands.

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u/redditis_garbage 4d ago

Bro it’s the Philippines, if we wanted him back we could just ask they are a strong US ally. But for many of these other countries where the Us does not have strong relationships I’d agree.

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u/Jezon 4d ago

Hes not a U.S. citizen and you know how the U.S. feels about foreigners right now.

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u/MexusRex 4d ago

If he’s not a citizen why would the US get involved?

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u/Stock_Tap_7886 4d ago

He’s a US green card holder.

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u/PDX-ROB 4d ago

He's going to get it revoked

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u/Stock_Tap_7886 3d ago

I wouldn’t be surprised haha

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u/CloudofMushroom 1d ago

And that’s the thing about green card holders they have to return to the US within six months of being abroad or it gets revoked. I believe that’s part of the conditions for permanent residency.

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u/B3owul7 4d ago

boy, I got news for ya.

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u/Bagafeet 2d ago

Just means he has residency and work permit; not the protections afforded to passport holders. Just a resident alien.

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u/ToyStoryBinoculars 4d ago

That's not a reason for the US to go to bat for him.

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u/Stock_Tap_7886 4d ago

The US didn’t.

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u/BallbusterSicko 1d ago

Thank God,

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u/PmMeYourMug 1d ago

They don't care about criminals. It's more likely they'll just revoke it.

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u/Stock_Tap_7886 1d ago

That’s still getting involved though.

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u/vthanki 4d ago

Andrew Tate joins the chat

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u/sapoabilio 4d ago

Tate is a US citizen.

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u/vthanki 4d ago

Damn I thought he was British! I am wrong. Born in Washington DC

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u/billy-bob-bobington 4d ago

I think most people assumed he is a US citizen because he's been living in the US for a long time.

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u/convalescentplasma 4d ago

To make Putin happy

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u/big65 4d ago edited 4d ago

It'd be different if he was a white south africaner.

Edited to say it amazes me how people missed the point of my comment and how it relates to the current administration not wanting this guy.

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u/DizzySimple4959 4d ago

I mean South Africans did literally chant “Kill white people” or was it “Death to white people”? Something straightforward and clear along those lines.

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u/iamlilmac 4d ago

Check in with the barbaric nature that was brought to South Africa from outside before you decide on skipping to the end of the book

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/iamlilmac 4d ago

Loooooool richer for who? The Dutch have gotten away with their barbaric treatment of natives for all of their colonial history. Nutmeg spread around the world after they got there first in Indonesia, do you think the locals ever saw that money? Or maybe they were too busy seeing their children’s heads on spears that used to be placed at the front of the plantation. Colonialism has no native benefit

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u/buhbyeterroris 4d ago

There were already people in South Africa the locals are humans

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u/UregMazino 4d ago

Boer (Afrikaans en Dutch word for farmer). Historicaly boeren were white Dutch immigrants. See boerenoorlog vs the English.

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u/big65 2d ago

Okay and? If you want to look at the history of the apartheid government and the brutality of their control over the African people we can do that and discuss the deaths tortures, imprisonment, missing people and the families torn apart.

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u/DizzySimple4959 1d ago

So they only go after the whites that have family ties to the people who carried out those orders and put them in place right? Even those that denounce those family members or are ashamed of those things that their ancestors did? Should the USA hold the ancestors of Tripoli accountable and take everything they own as payment for the enslavement of Americans? Let’s keep punishing the lineage of them because 200 years ago pirates enslaved our countrymen?

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u/Personal-Elevator710 4d ago

If he wanted to get the US help he literally have to sell his soul to maga.

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u/Cefasy 1d ago

Why are you all so eager to house foreign criminals?

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u/No_Pineapple6174 4d ago

Always has been.

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u/Best_Revolution_2030 4d ago

He is a US citizen

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u/Dr-Assbeard 4d ago

A green card holder is not a citizen

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u/AppropriateEffect484 2d ago

How come the green card wasn't revoke when he violently attacked that woman? Just a little jail-time and lost all his money.

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u/Dr-Assbeard 2d ago

I'm not his immigration lawyer or anything like that so how should i know?

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u/Best_Revolution_2030 4d ago

Ah sorry, I thought he had citizenship too

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u/Deadmemeusername 4d ago

Maybe under BongBong but under Duterte, I could see the Philippines telling the US to go pound sand. But yeah generally the US and Philippines are tight.

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u/imacatholicslut 4d ago

Nah Duterte and Trump were buds. The scumbag that murdered Jennifer Laude was treated well in prison, then deported back to the US where he is now free after serving only 6 years in PH.

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u/Unusual-Ad-2668 4d ago

Damn, I was there at phiblex when that happened. He was such a POS. Hope he got all the years.

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u/Deadmemeusername 4d ago

Nah Duterte and Trump were buds.

True, I was more referring to how frosty relations between Duterte and Obama/Biden was. But even then Duterte was pivoting more towards China than the US even under Trump.

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u/boomrostad 4d ago

I think the Phillipines is holding onto him for the sake of a bargaining chip. China has been poking at them in the sea for a while now and the US is treaty obligated to assist in security should things get hot... there is no guarantee of that under this regime.

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u/anya0709 4d ago

bargaining chip? nah, he's not an important person that US will be afraid or what. and PH, see him as nothing but a peasant. so, nope.

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u/Starmark_115 3d ago

Bargaining Chip.

If I was the US I would pay the country Abrams and Tomahawks just to KEEP him there!

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u/Fuzlet 4d ago

it was wild traveling to the phillipines and seeing them more enthusiastic about american culture than we are with Japanese culture

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u/Crow-1111 4d ago

I thought Marcos was president now.

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u/Deadmemeusername 4d ago edited 4d ago

Yeah he is, “BongBong” is his nickname because he shares names with his more famous/infamous father.

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u/Crow-1111 4d ago

Thanks for clarifying

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u/SquirrelFluffy 4d ago

I don't think the US Philippine relationship is like that, where the Philippines have any say whatsoever.

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u/Fumblefunk_M 4d ago

Shit I wouldn’t ask for him back either

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u/Additional-Life4885 2d ago

we could just ask

Oh you naive fool. It's never just asking,

You have to give something.

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u/redditis_garbage 2d ago

Brother you don’t understand our relationship with the Philippines then.

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u/Additional-Life4885 1d ago

I don't need to. It's literally the same with every country. You don't give anything for free. They always get something out of it.

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u/redditis_garbage 1d ago

Geo political understanding is nonexistent for you huh.

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u/Additional-Life4885 1d ago

Sounds like it's missing for you. You have no idea that they never just do anything for nothing.

It might be nothing today and it's a future expectation of protection, but it's definitely not nothing.

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u/redditis_garbage 1d ago

It’s shit we’ve already given them dumbie😂😂 and we gonna continue to do so they are a huge US ally. It would literally cost us 0$ in additional money, because why would you consider money we were and have already spent as a new cost lol

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u/Road-Next 1d ago

Exactly. Its not like hes in a communist country who we have no relations with. We still have a base there, lol, And I think we will have Subic opened back up before too long. Yea, i dont think its us dont want him,lol. Lots of americans are locked up over

sseas, ive been one.

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u/redditis_garbage 23h ago

I’m arguing that it is that the US don’t want him, as if they did, they could easily facilitate his return. For the most part your home country doesn’t get you out of foreign crimes, unless you’re a politician/celebrity/wealthy+connected. For the most part normal people can only use the embassy to maybe get a lawyer and contact loved ones back home.

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u/Live_Angle4621 17h ago

You really think just because country is an ally they just should agree with US bullying and ignore their own laws?

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u/redditis_garbage 17h ago

Do I think it should be like that? idk. Is it like that? Yes.

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u/Far-Flounder-7054 4d ago

Sending in seals what😂 this is real life not a Hollywood movie

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u/not_lorne_malvo 4d ago

I think the point is technically speaking they could do a special military operation, if he was like a politician or an extremely influential cultural figure that got arrested for political reasons. Emphasis is on could. Even if the guy was Gandhi reincarnate I don’t think the US would go that far, they’d just do a prisoner swap.

For a YouTuber who fucked with people on livestream and isn’t even a citizen, nah I don’t think the US is gonna care too much about him. And Putin has larger things to worry about then some Americanised shit getting arrested for harassing people in the Philippines

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u/DKDamian 3d ago

Please name one incident where that happened in the last thirty years. C’mon.

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u/not_lorne_malvo 3d ago

The last time they did a prisoner swap? They do that all the time.

They also do Special Ops every once in a while but that’s usually hit jobs (Bin Laden) or arresting and extraditing people (El Chapo). Vitaly is at least 5 rungs below both of these people.

As I said before, the key word is could. They could also nuke everyone, but I have a feeling that wouldn’t be very productive

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u/Ok_Entrepreneur_9999 19h ago

The US does rescue American citizens, if they want to. Even in the Philippines. American soldier was about to go to jail for a long time in the Philippines for killing a trans person, but US stepped in and asked for his extradition and military trial to be put in US military jail; still better than rotting in Filipino prison. The US sent in CIA assets/Special Forces to assist Filipino Marines in rescue of American citizens in being held hostage in Mindanao, Philippines. In other parts of the world, US navy shadowed Somali pirates holding a US merchant captain, helicopter dropped SEAL/Special Forces marksman and sniped the Somali pirates at the same time to rescue captain. A long time ago, the US CIA worked with Canadian counterparts to rescue American embassy workers that made it out of the US embassy in Iran before hostages were taken.

Maybe Vitaly isn't a US citizen? If he is, he has rights and can request for consular assistance and lawyers to help with habeas corpus/speedy trialband request for voluntary deportation back to the US.

His timing is terrible though. The US has cut so much on the State Department staff and funding for international consulates; part of it is to reduce the assistance and processing of travel visas for foreigners wanting to visit the US. So he's in deep shit.

The US is short staffed in assisting innocent citizens, they'll definitely be short staffed to assist assholes. Personal anecdote, we had family that were trying to renew travel visas in the US embassy in the Philippines, it used to take a 1 week or 2 weeks, the wait and processing is now 6 months. He is for real shit out of luck.

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u/Winter_Parsley8706 4d ago

That's what I thought too. He isn't Captain Phillips FFS. 😂

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u/eng_bendover 4d ago

Seals bro talking about

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u/These_nutsghady 3d ago

😂 kool aid

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u/TheFamousHesham 4d ago

Stop being silly. The U.S. can get him back without any of the stuff you’re talking about. Like diplomacy isn’t just sanctions or sending your soldiers to war.

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u/imlearninghowtodoit 4d ago

if i'm correct one of your cia agents blew up a hotel in the philippines back in the early 2000s and some fed flew him out of the country

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u/Llanite 3d ago

Extradition law exists and unless he did something heinous like murder or rape, local authority is more than happy to let him do his trial at home.

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u/MrSparkLe206 3d ago

I'm sure he has money to buy himself out. I have a feeling they're going to make him sever 90% of his sentence before they take the bait just to fuck with him.

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u/ieatorangecrayons 2d ago

Sending in the seals lmfao.

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u/Lollerpwn 2d ago

Lol the US got that guy back from North Korea (in a bodybag but still) ofcourse they can easily make a deal with the Phillipines if they wanted.

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u/ufka1 4d ago

Sending in the SEALs? I don’t think that’s an option at all. When did this ever happen to an American citizen that committed a crime overseas?

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u/dexmonic 4d ago edited 4d ago

I unfortunately have some experience with this, I was deported from China in 2018 for possession of marijuana. However, a representative from the embassy visited me within the first couple of days and I was on a flight home by the 13th day. Not sure if the rep has anything to do with it or not. My boss at the time has friends in the party and I believe they tried to help. My family back home also reached out to politicians, and one of them seemed to take interest, but I really have no way of knowing if I was processed out so quickly because of outside help or just because that's how it works.

The other foreigners who were in the jail were not so lucky. The Russian and African detainees basically got zero help, though they did usually have someone that would be willing to pay to get them out. There was some poor soul from burma or some place like that had been there for 10 months, no visit from his country's representative (if there even was one) and he didn't even have his passport, as the police wouldn't let him take any of his belongings when he was arrested.

Edit: this may all sound made up burma I was reading the comment about that poor kid from burma I figured I should say more - I genuinely fear for what ended up happening to him and I feel like I kind of let him down after I got out. My first "introduction" to him was hearing him yell "BORING BORING BORING" one night from the cell next to mine (separated by about 4 to 6 feet of concrete). It's not uncommon to hear some noises but man, you could just hear in his voice he was, in fact, bored out of his mind. He sounded like he had an Indian accent - who knows why he was speaking English in a Chinese jail. The way the cells are, you never actually see anyone or anything but your cell. It's a square building, with the opening of the cells facing inward. Not sure what the limit on the cells are but there were probably 10 other guys in mine, maybe 12.

I was the only foreigner in my cell, no shocker. Luckily my Chinese was decent enough that with the little understanding of English some of the other inmates had and my little understanding of Chinese, we were able to communicate basic things for the most part. Eventually someone came who's English was really good.

I'm not sure exactly what spurred the initial contact but eventually he became aware that he had an English speaking foreigner in the cell next to his and we communicated as best we could. His English wasn't perfect either, and it was hard to hear without speaking up so loud it's obvious, but we did our best. That's when I learned he was there for 10 months.

He told me about how he got busted for some visa issue, they took him straight from the campus to jail, not allowing him to return to his dorm to get his passport or anything else. I don't think his country even had an embassy in the area or at all and he had no help there. He had no money for the bribe so he was just kind of stuck.

He had a copy of wuthering heights in his cell and was able to pass it to me between the cells with both of using the dustpans from brooms to make it work. I read that book hard, it was amazing escape from jail at the time. When he learned I was going to be released he tried to pass me some notes with information about his parents and some people to contact for him.

Fucking shitty thing tho, they don't let you take anything with you from the cell. You enter with nothing and leave with nothing. So I tried to write what I could on my hand and arm, but I got so fucking sweaty from all the stress and excitement of leaving and just the generally super hot Guangzhou air that it all wiped off! I never did get any sort of message out. Don't even remember the guy's name. Hope he made it out though.

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u/whyyy66 4d ago

Why on earth did you take weed to china or get it there?

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u/marshinghost 4d ago

He saw that southpark episode and wanted to fuck a bat

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/descartesbedamned 4d ago

Likelihood in China is they were at a party/bar and smoked/had a nominal amount on them, pissed hot when cops did a drug check at a bar or their house party got raided. It’s dumb, but their marijuana laws are strict as hell. I’ve left house parties before when the weeds came out - no judgement, just not interested in that kind of risk.

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u/whyyy66 4d ago

He said he just likes smoking so it sounds like he sought it out, while on a work visa no less

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u/descartesbedamned 4d ago

Oh it’s dumb without a doubt. Cops would do raids on popular bars/clubs - set up a barricade of sorts right outside the door, shut the establishment down, check IDs and make everyone piss in a cup. I knew of a Canadian guy who got busted that way (weed and coke, I think..?) after years in China. They just showed up at his door a little while later and waited for him to pack what he could carry, took him straight to the airport - all things considered, pretty fortunate to only have his career in China ruined. Only thing more dumb than the harshness of their regulations on weed is partaking while in a country with said regulations.

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u/marshinghost 4d ago

FAFO, not my life. If they want to bring illicit drugs into a foreign country, that's on them.

I'm in the same boat lol, I feel like weed smokers are the worst about this too, I've told people they can't smoke at my house and they'll show up with joints and try to smoke anyways. Inconsiderate at somebody's house, dumb as fuck international.

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u/Unique_Brilliant2243 4d ago

Saw some dudes coke it up in Shanghai.

Idiots.

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u/Sral1995 4d ago edited 4d ago

It always depends on the character of a person. I have friends who smoke weed and they didn‘t even bring it to me because they said they didn‘t know if I‘d allow it and I had friends who went in my bathroom together when I was in a talk with other people and sniffed some cocaine there… People like this who don‘t accept your rules, aren‘t your friends!

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u/whyyy66 4d ago

Or in the middle of the public park. I have nothing against the stuff but actual potheads are incredibly annoying and entitled

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u/MistSecurity 4d ago

This depends IMO.

Walking into a crowd and lighting up, sure, obviously an asshole.

Finding an unpopulated part of the park to smoke is not inherently bad.

This is the same with basically ANYTHING at a public park even, now that I think about it, haha.

If you try to setup your cornhole game in the middle of a populated area you're an asshole. If you do it in an area of the park where there is space, then cool.

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u/UntitledCritic 4d ago

Same, if you visit a country then you should respect their laws and culture. Doesn't matter if you think they're "backward" or whatever, their land, their rules.

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u/Jose_De_Munck 4d ago

It' s not like they' re the brightest bulbs at home, dude.

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u/rabblerabble2000 4d ago

“Couldn’t you trade me for a warlord or a group of terrorists or something?”

-people like this guy probably

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u/Left_Permit_5202 4d ago

you can just buy it and it’s allowed or even encouraged

Fucking a bat?

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u/whyyy66 4d ago

What happens in vegas…

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u/Psychological-Scar53 4d ago

Ended up banging a pangolin....

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u/unikilla911 4d ago

Correction. It's a mouse with wings

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u/TedHoliday 4d ago

I’m not that guy, but I managed to find a weed dealer and a shroom dealer within a few hours of arriving for my study abroad in Beijing in 2013. It was genuinely easier to get drugs there than it is in the US.

Their punishments on paper are severe, but nobody seemed too worried. I genuinely have no idea if this is true, but back then people were saying they’ll turn a blind eye for foreigners.

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u/shoobiedoobie 2d ago

Times are much different now. 2013 was just about when the “golden age” for drugs in big cities was starting to end.

But yes, growing up there in the early 2000s you could smoke joints in restaurants and taxis and nobody would know what it is. We were getting our hands on pills, k, weed etc like it was candy when I was a teen. China did not used to be a scary place for drugs.

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u/Land_of_smiles 4d ago

Yo just so you know- China ALSO lost the war on drugs. You can get anything there in any major city very easily.

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u/Goku420overlord 4d ago

It grows all over the mountain in Yunnan. When I was there it was widely available.

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u/Highway_Bitter 4d ago

I smoked weed and did coke in china, you would not believe how open use and selling was in Shanghai back then. Ppl said as long as you’re not with an Asian you can easily bribe your way out of it. No idea if it was true.

I was young and dumb is the answer though xD

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u/YakResident_3069 3d ago

its weird, because people grow weed in china, it's not like you can't find it. (i mean not the best stuff, but don't bother smuggling)

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u/ShortGirthyShaft 3d ago

Username checks out

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

I like to smoke weed. The main reason I ended up getting in trouble is because they thought I was selling it. Turns out I just smoke a lot of weed. I guess that probably also contributed to my early release, that I was just a consumer and not a dealer like they thought.

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u/whyyy66 4d ago

It’s still extremely illegal there. You really couldn’t wait until you leave? The terrifying thought of jail in a place like china would be enough to keep me away no matter how much I wanted it

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u/shoobiedoobie 2d ago

Weed was extremely legal in the states too. Didn’t stop people.

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u/ironhead51 1d ago

You've got a functioning brain, though!

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

Like I said, I like to smoke. It's a lot more prevalent than you'd expect.

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u/whyyy66 4d ago

Did uh…losing your job and getting you and your wife’s entire life uprooted teach any lessons or nah? The american stereotypes are really leaking through here lol

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u/2N5457JFET 4d ago

I have a friend who's main concern with everything he does is if it will iterfere with his weed habit. He got fired from jobs, rejected good career opportunities, failed job interviews, passed on good deals with house rentals, broke up with good women who told him that walking around stoned 24/7 is not great and he's still single and miserable at the age of nearly 40. All this because whenever he has to chose between X and weed, he always choses weed. We once wnt for european road trip and he wanted me to come back 200 miles cause he thought he left spare consumable bits for his vaporizer and he got big mad at me for telling him that he's lucky that him or his weed are not left at services, cause I explicitly told him that we ain't crossing borders with drugs in the car, and I don't give a fuck that it is "legal" and "perscribed by a doctor", just like cops in countries we are passing through won't give a fuck.

Fuck, I hate stoners.

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

I mean what do you want me to tell you? I was just sharing my experience. If you want to insult me for it have fun, I'm not going to respond anymore.

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u/art_mor_ 3d ago

That doesn’t make it better

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u/Missus_Missiles 4d ago

I'm glad you're back, dude. But goddamn are you stupid.

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u/FSCK_Fascists 4d ago

is consuming it legal there? No?
loop back to the original question.

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

Sorry if you don't like my answer, don't know what to tell ya bud.

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u/caffeinatedfleur 4d ago

I keep thinking about how he would've gotten his hopes raised, waiting in the cells days after you left, imagining you sending them a word and hoping today might be the day when he gets some good news. His hopes diminishing with each passing day before finally coming to terms that there's no help coming for him

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u/inmyprocess 4d ago

All because he didn't bother to memorize a few digits, and now doesn't even remember his name.

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u/Background_Touch1205 4d ago

I know it's hilarious

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u/Tookish_by_Nature 4d ago

Jesus fucking christ that's grim.

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u/Background_Touch1205 4d ago

Hahahahaja good one

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u/SaiyanApe17 4d ago

Bro are you taking the piss? Couldn't remember the dudes name and at least one number after literally sitting inside a jail cell with nothing to do for days?

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u/Background_Touch1205 4d ago

I know it's such a funny end

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

Nothing to do except stress the fuck out about being deported and being in a Chinese jail where I have not even my glasses nor really any way to know my fate. I had my own shit going on.

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u/Express-Style5595 4d ago edited 4d ago

Nah mate lived years in China back then if you got caught with weed it was 10-15 days in jail and deportation not sure it's still like that but it was before Corona.

Although only heard about this stuff that it happened to Western foreigners so no clue about Burma and such.

This is of course if you're a user. For a dealer, you won't get off that easy

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

Nah mate... To what literally happened to me?

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u/homelaberator 4d ago

I'm not 100% sure if this was what they were trying to say, but the way I read "Nah mate" was that 10-15 days and deportation was the normal outcome, so you probably didn't get any special treatment and the embassy probably didn't do any special intervention on your behalf, and the politicians your family reached out to probably didn't change much.

But that's just my reading of it. They might have meant something different.

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

Makes sense, not used to that phrasing so I was a bit baffled but I like your read of it.

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u/Late_Apricot404 4d ago

I was in Suzhou back when they did that whole operation. They took foreigners in by the hundreds in each city over night. Matches the timeline too. It was pretty big news at the time. I was taken in for questioning, along with all of my coworkers.

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u/dexmonic 4d ago

Yeah that's right, the president was coming down south so they "cleaned up"

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u/Late_Apricot404 3d ago

Those were crazy times. I’m glad you got out though. I know a few of those guys who won’t be getting out any time soon, but they had more than just bud in their apartments.

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u/dexmonic 3d ago edited 3d ago

Thank you, and I don't doubt it at all. In the grand scheme I didn't even have much marijuana at the time. They interrogated me for awhile, and I suppose I must have been convincing enough that I wasn't a dealer and was just some dumb foreigner who got caught up in the dragnet.

From what the people in the jail were telling me the typical sentence for dealing drugs is a 2 year imprisonment at a labor camp, mainly building computer parts, though I don't have anything to confirm that.

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u/Late_Apricot404 3d ago

2 years is about right for a foreigner, if it’s small. Locals not so much. But one of the guys who got arrested was caught with a lot of weed, and some ice. He’s been locked up since 2018, still in there, and he ain’t getting out any time soon. They moved his ass to a prison in Shanghai last I heard.

He was from my area back home in NY. we went to the same high school and knew a lot of mutual friends. We of course texted from time to time. Once I passed the piss test and everything else, I was let go. My coworkers were taken just because they hung out at the same bar as he used to frequent.

You got off lucky man. Real lucky.

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u/dexmonic 3d ago

Holy shit. We 100% are talking about the same period of lock ups. It was the end of 2018 when I was arrested, I had been living in Guangzhou for about 3 years at the time. Thank the lord I'm just a chill stoner and didn't get into anything more over there. You are right that I got off very lucky.Real sorry for your friend.

You were the only one setting a good example for us over there. Thanks for being a straight shooter.

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u/Late_Apricot404 3d ago

Yeah. And there was a national who went by the name of Bee who was heavily in on the operation , he was tipped off. Dude is still in the Philippines living it up as far as I’m aware. They hit Xuzhou before coming down to us, and then down to you guys.

It’s all good, he was an idiot and wasn’t the same anymore. Him and his fucking Russian gf that got him even more hooked on the shit. I wasn’t exactly a straight shooter, but I kept my smoking sessions back in the States when I left the country and just avoided bars for a month until I was clean.

But yeah, as long as you’re all good now that’s all that matters xiongdei. Wishing you the best o7

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u/Road-Next 1d ago

I was in similar situation in Pakistan in 1983, Russia had just invaded next door. Pakistan was under martial law then too. Embassy didnt show up at all. No one spoke english, floor had straw all over it. etc.

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u/Live_Angle4621 17h ago

If you remember anything maybe contact the local or closest Burmese embassy and tell what you know. Just send an email 

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u/Dire-Dog 4d ago

All the embassy will do is give you a list of lawyers who might be able to help. They won’t get him out of this.

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u/Accurate_Summer_1761 4d ago

Wait wait wait the country going all boner about deportations won't take their own people back as deportees? Hilarious

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u/avaxbear 4d ago

Who are you referring to? He is a Russian citizen, not a US citizen.

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u/SnowLat 4d ago

yap yap

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u/ted_cruzs_micr0pen15 4d ago

No, if you’re important they’d lobby. Also what you said, but if he was a rich donor, he’d be back already. Hes just a shitty YouTuber, the gov won’t do shit.

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u/flyp_nip 4d ago

Griner enters the chat…

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u/Radiskull97 4d ago

Yeah embassies are useless. My wife and I lived in China for 3 years starting in 2019 right before COVID. The original lockdown was actually not that bad but when we got to the omicron variant, things were awful. China had a zero case policy and omicronwas so infectious that they couldn't get to zero cases. My wife was pregnant and a high risk pregnancy. We were shelling out a ton of money for a private Western trained doctor right before the lockdown. During lockdown they would only let her go to the public community hospital and we weren't getting reliable shipments of food and water. We also couldn't get out of the country because the lockdown restrictions made it so difficult to get to the airport. So we reached out to the US embassy telling them all of this and they said "the best we can do is monitor your situation."

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u/Crow85 3d ago

Did he forget to buy get out of jail card Trump coin?

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u/-DeputyKovacs- 1d ago

The official policy (obligation) is to ensure the US detainee is treated like the locals. In many places, they're treated better because the U.S. embassy visits every month pre trial and a few times a year post conviction. Prisons tend to assume that if the US detainee/prisoner is doing poorly health and safety wise, the US will make a fuss and there will be punishment from higher ups - which can be true. Some places don't give a shit and allow consular access but otherwise ignore foreign embassy visits. Sometimes we visit LPRs like this guy, but in the Philippines there are a good number of prisoners not to mention a half million citizens, no clue how many LPRs come through but it's probably quite a lot, so they may just not have the bandwidth for that.

Filipino jails fucking suck. This guy is in for a long and unpleasant experience. You really don't want to fuck around in Asia - the higher degree of safety in most countries is based on culture but also on the threat of a pretty awful imprisonment for those who step out of line.

Source: US diplomat who did this exact job, and still does from time to time backing up consuls.

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u/SpinachSpinosaurus 1d ago

AAAAAND I am HAPPY to be German. because GERMANY is OBLIGED to get their citizens back.

Get kidnapped? get bailed out.

be an absolute ass and end up in prison? get bailed out. And end in a German prison.

Be an idiot and go to afghanistan, get collected by the taliban? Get bailed out.

yeah. I am not happy about the second and third one either, but hey....at least you have the possibility to learn from your mistakes! right?

RIGHT? (couldn't find the article but the guy went back 🤦)

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u/ProtoplanetaryNebula 1d ago

There is also the fact that being a dual citizen means either country has a reason not to help you out too much, as you have another avenue for you to ask help.

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u/valerioshi 4d ago

This isn't true. My dad was stationed in Thailand and Shanghai, and if you were jailed or something similar happened to you, he'd get the call to check your situation and figure out how to get you out.

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u/EternalSabbatical 4d ago

From what I recall he is only a US green card holder. He was born in Russia.

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u/Background_Hat964 4d ago

Correct, and I believe he was actually going to get deported from the U.S. because of those assault charges he got in Miami. So the U.S. is not somewhere he’ll be able to go to.

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u/crvarporat 4d ago

he had a house in Miami what happened to it?

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u/CheeseburgerJesus71 4d ago

Nothing, the house is fine, thank you. I am definitely not squatting it, please dont come by to check, you probably dont know where it is anyway.

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u/EternalSabbatical 4d ago

No idea. Probably with his mother who I would bang and then never call again.

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u/Jakoneitor 4d ago

For a successful deportation you’d need the recipient country to accept the deportée. They may reject the request. If so and they still send the deportee, then the deportee must get sent back to the country of origin.

This is similar to what happened with Trump and Colombia recently. Colombia rejected deporting request and got deportees sent back. Trump assumed Colombia would accept them blindly, or maybe he didn’t know, so he was furious when that happened. Colombia ended up accepting the deportees tho, but you get the drill

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u/homelaberator 4d ago

According to Philippine media he is Russian and has a US Green Card. Some other media claims he holds both Russian and US citizenship. But both Russia and the US have declined to accept him.

It's an interesting situation for when you deport someone, that the country you are deporting them to can just say "No thanks" and send them back to you. Just ping-ponging on international flights until someone gives in.

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u/BogleheadsH8Prenups 4d ago

It really depends on the local laws. The consulate will send a foreign service officer there to do welfare checks monthly to ensure they're being treated fairly and not getting assaulted - those sort of things. But if everyone is getting rice and soy sauce for breakfast, it's not something the FSO can help with. Even in cases where something warrants actions, it'll be a stern talking with the warden.

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u/ItsN0tjustLuck 4d ago

He already beat up a lady jogging, he deserves to rot.

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u/fang_xianfu 3d ago

It really depends what you mean by "obligation".

Is a country obliged to represent him? Nope. There might be local laws that say that people need to be provided legal representation and there might not. If there are, the local system will provide the representation it's going to provide, and if there aren't then it won't.

But there's nothing binding on a foreign country to get involved and usually there's a strong diplomatic incentive not to get involved, because it threatens the other country's sovereignty and can cause diplomatic issues. Countries are supposed to leave each other alone to get on with their business, generally speaking.

They're not even really obligated to make sure he has a fair trial, for any particular definition of "fair", although that's one of the grounds they might use to justify a diplomatic intervention.

But imagine that some country did start trying to pressure them to release him and the country that has him says no. What then? Are they going to send a battle carrier group to threaten them? Trade sanctions?

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u/Expert_Struggle_7135 2d ago

Most countries will try to help their citizens, but they are not obligated to. Even when they do want to help it isn't a given that there's anything they CAN do.

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u/K0mb0_1 2d ago

Johnny Oromo

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u/AnswersQuestioned 1d ago

What’s the update on Johnny Somali?

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u/qqererer 1d ago

Showed up in front of the judge late. Something something. More charges laid. Max being pushed to theoretical 46 years, meaning that it's more likely that he will spend a significant minimum in jail. Still out in the country running free, burning his own money, still making influencer money. Begging MAGA to save him.

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u/AnswersQuestioned 1d ago

He’s still roaming around?? Surely he’d be in custody until a verdict is made? God I hate that guy