Well, this stinks: Scott “Wino” Weinrich, the leading force of the legendary Saint Vitus, was detained in Norway for possession of illegal substances over the weekend and has since been deported back to the U.S. We have no word on what substances those were (although we can closely guess) or any details about the events leading up to the arrest, but we do know that Saint Vitus have vowed to finish the remaining three dates of their European tour without Wino.

Here’s a statement from the band via Facebook:

Saint Vitus would like to regretfully inform all of our European fans that our lead vocalist Wino was detained by the Norwegian police and immigrations officers for possession of illegal substances since Sunday November 9th. As of 4 pm yesterday evening (Nov. 11th) we were informed by his Norwegian defense attorney that he would more than likely be released that same day and be able to continue the remaining dates of our European tour. This morning we received notification that Wino was being deported today back to the U.S. with no hope to remain in Scandanavia or anywhere in the EU. SAINT VITUS WILL CONTINUE THE REMAINING DATES OF THE TOUR!!! Our sincere apologies to all of our fans, the promoters, booking agents and especially our Norwegian fans and promoter for the cancelled show. We will still deliver the HEAVY sound to all of our friends in Europe and it is our hope that everyone will understand our position to go forward with the remaining dates without Wino. David Chandler and Henry Vasquez along with a few surprise guests will take over vocal duties and this will be a rare opportunity to see Vitus with main songwriter David Chandler vocalizing his tormented tales of pain, heartache and DOOM. We hope to still see all of you on our remaining dates. FUCK THAT WEAK SHIT!!!!

Fuck that weak shit indeed!! We hope all is alright with Wino and that the band’s fans in Germany are satisfied with their Wino-less performance.

More as we learn it.

[via Metal Insider]