11 June 2023 , 13:13
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Moscow has detained an American musician, rock band manager and former US paratrooper on suspicion of drug trafficking, state media claims.
Travis Leake, 51, who has lived in Russia for a decade, has been locked up for two months after a court ordered his detention on what Russian state media said was the suspicion of the illegal production, sale or shipment of narcotics on a large scale.
Leake, who has worked as a singer or producer of several Russian rock bands and has been associated with Lovi Noch - ‘Seize the Night’ - band, faces charges which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
During the war in Ukraine, there is suspicion Russia is arresting foreigners - especially Americans - under any pretext in order to barter in seeking the return of alleged Russian criminals detained in the West.
Russian media reported a Russian woman reported him to police for supplying drugs.
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Travis Leake is being detained (NTV/east2west news)The reports said Michael Travis Leake is suspected of selling mephedrone, whose effects are similar to those of cocaine and MDMA. A Moscow court ordered him to be held for two months in pre-trial detention, the reports said.
An Instagram page under the name Travis Leake Instagram identifies him as the singer for the band Lovi Noch. News reports said Leake is a former paratrooper with the US military and has lived in Moscow since 2010.
Before this he fought in Iraq for the US military, it is reported.
He was detained with a close Russian woman friend, named as Valeria Grobanyuk.
Russian media reported on Leake being detained (NTV/east2west news)A search by armed officers was carried out in the American's apartment on Zaporozhskaya Street in Moscow a few days ago, said reports.
A source at Moscow's Khamovniki District Court said: “Travis Michael Leake was given a preventive measure in the form of detention.”
He will be held until 6 August.
Reports on his detention stated that he had visited Ukraine during the 2014 revolution.
Russian police storm his flat (NTV/east2west news)According to the REN TV channel, a suspicious substance was found in his apartment on Zaporozhskaya Street in Moscow.
It was sent for examination along with scales, and other items.
Reports in the Russian media said that at first Leake had told investigators he did not know what he was accused of.
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Later the American retracted his previous testimony and told police he decided to organise a small but profitable business for the sale of Mephedrone in Russia, according to reports.
Leake is a rocker and associated with Lovi Noch (Social media/east2west news)It is unclear if he was put under duress to confess.
There was no independent corroboration of this claim which said the alleged supply had been to young people, mostly females.
Russia is currently holding US journalist Evan Gershkovich, 31, on supposed espionage charges.
It is the first time Moscow has accused a US journalist of espionage since the Soviet era, and it comes during the war in Ukraine which has led to deeply strained east-west relations.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing at the Moscow City Court in Moscow on April 18, 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)In December, the US and Russia swapped American basketball star Brittney Griner - detained in Moscow - for for US-imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout after months of negotiations.
Former US Marine Paul Whelan remains detained in Russia.
Russian drug laws are strict.
WNBA star Griner was arrested in February 2022 after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage at a Moscow airport. She was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The US State Department said in an emailed statement that it was aware of the reports that a US citizen had recently been arrested in Moscow.
It said when a US citizen is detained overseas, the department "pursues consular access as soon as possible and works to provide all appropriate consular assistance."
The department said it would have no further comment due to privacy considerations.