An American musician with the Russian rock group LoviNoch (Catch the Night time) has been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of drug trafficking, based on media experiences.
Michael Travis Leake, whose Instagram account identifies him because the band’s singer (his final submit was on Feb. 3), is suspected of promoting mephedrone, a drug with comparable results to cocaine and MDMA, CNN and the Related Press reported, citing Russian media experiences and an announcement on Telegram from a Moscow court docket.
Leake faces costs for the distribution or manufacturing of medication, which carry a sentence of as much as 20 years in jail. A Moscow court docket has ordered him to be held for 2 months in pre-trial detention, the experiences say.
CNN reported that Russian media retailers, together with Ren TV, a tabloid outlet, printed a video of Leake’s arrest at his residence and a mug shot from a Russian police station on Thursday (June 8). “I don’t perceive why I’m right here. I don’t admit guilt, I don’t consider I might have performed what I’m accused of as a result of I don’t know what I’m accused of,” Leake reportedly mentioned.
A former paratrooper with the U.S. army who has lived in Moscow since 2010, Leake appeared on a 2014 episode of Anthony Bourdain: Elements Unknown in Moscow and St. Petersburg after being handpicked by Bourdain to look on the present. Within the episode, he half-joked that the KGB was listening in on their dialog and tailing Bourdain.
The episode’s producer, Darya Tarasova, informed CNN that Leake and his buddies had been vocal critics of Russian state censorship and advocates without spending a dime speech within the nation.
The U.S. State Division confirmed Leake’s detention in an announcement despatched to Billboard, with a spokesperson writing, “The Division of State takes critically its dedication to help U.S. residents overseas. It’s our normal follow to achieve out to the households of U.S. residents detained abroad as quickly as we’re supplied permission by the person. Now we have tried to achieve out to Mr. Leake’s household. We stand prepared to supply all applicable consular help to Mr. Leake and his household.”
On Sunday, the State Division informed CNN that U.S. embassy officers had attended Leake’s arraignment the day prior. “We are going to proceed to watch the case intently,” a State Division spokesperson informed the outlet.
Leake is the newest American to be detained by Russian officers because the nation’s army forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Punitive financial sanctions by the US and its Western allies have additional strained tensions with Russia.
In one other drug-related case, WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested the month of the invasion after vape canisters containing hashish oil had been present in her baggage at a Moscow airport. A Russian court docket sentenced her to 9 years in jail, however she was launched in December in alternate for U.S.-imprisoned Russian arms seller Viktor Bout.
And in March, Russian officers detained Wall Road Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, accusing him of espionage, which he denies. On Could 23, a Russian court docket prolonged his arrest by three months.
