MOSCOW (AP) — An American musician who has lived in Russia for greater than a decade has been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking, Russian information media reported Saturday.
The experiences stated Michael Travis Leake is suspected of promoting mephedrone, whose results are just like these of cocaine and MDMA. A Moscow court docket ordered him to be held for 2 months in pre-trial detention, the experiences stated.
He faces expenses of manufacturing or distribution of medication, which carry a sentence of as much as 20 years in jail.
An Instagram web page underneath the identify Travis Leake Instagram identifies him because the singer for the band Lovi Noch (Seize the Night time). Information experiences stated Leake is a former paratrooper with the U.S. army and has lived in Moscow since 2010.
Russian drug legal guidelines are strict. WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested in February 2022 after vape canisters containing hashish oil have been present in her baggage at a Moscow airport. She was sentenced to 9 years in jail, however was launched in December in an change for U.S.-imprisoned Russian arms seller Viktor Bout.
The U.S. State Division stated in an emailed assertion to The Related Press that it was conscious of the experiences {that a} U.S. citizen had not too long ago been arrested in Moscow. It stated when a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, the division “pursues consular entry as quickly as potential and works to supply all applicable consular help.”
The division stated it could don’t have any additional remark because of privateness concerns.
