Asia Tech Wire (Oct 23) -- Volkswagen China's chief marketing officer, Jochen Sengpiehl, has been expelled from China for using marijuana during a vacation in Thailand, multiple media reports say.

According to Bild, Sengpiehl returned to Beijing from Koh Samui, Thailand, earlier this month and was subsequently found to have marijuana in his system during a routine drug test.

Chinese officials interrogated the senior manager for several hours before jailing him, the report said.

And after about 10 days in detention, Sengpiehl was deported back to Germany, according to the Financial Times.

In response to the news, Volkswagen China said Tuesday, "No comment".

Recreational marijuana is legal in Thailand, while any form of drug use is strictly prohibited in China, including cases where foreigners entering China consume and use it abroad.

Chinese law states that using marijuana is an act of drug abuse and is punishable by detention from 10 to 15 days.

However, China's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the Volkswagen executive had been placed under administrative detention for 10 days and deported by China's public security authorities for cocaine use.

Sengpiehl became one of the leading figures in Volkswagen's marketing department when he became chief marketing officer for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in 2017.

During his tenure, he created Volkswagen's classic slogan "Das Auto" ("The Car") and has since pushed to flatten the Volkswagen brand logo.

Prior to joining Volkswagen, Sengpiehl held key positions at Hyundai, Daimler and Nissan.

In 2022, Volkswagen Group announced that former Google executive Nelly Kennedy would become VW's chief marketing officer, replacing Sengpiehl, who has moved to VW China.

During his tenure at Volkswagen China, Sengpiehl was responsible for Volkswagen's product strategy, design, innovation management and marketing.