A Russian court ordered the 30-day detention of a US citizen suspected of drug smuggling, Moscow court news agency reported on Saturday. Associated Press.
Kalob Wayne Byers, 28, was arrested by customs officers at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow during baggage inspections.
On Friday, Russian federal customs confirmed that a US citizen had been detained.
The Russian fax interfax news agency said a US citizen was arrested at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after arriving from Istanbul for allegedly trying to bring a large amount of illegal drugs to Russia. He said that.
Mash, a Russian telegram channel connected to security services, said Americans could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it had secured the release of Mark Vogel, a teacher at an American school that has been detained on drug charges in Russia since its 2021 arrest.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a statement Tuesday that special envoy Steve Witkov had left Russia's airspace in Vogel after the US negotiated an exchange with Russia. The Waltz did not say whether the US or allies released anyone in return.
However, the Kremlin said early Wednesday that Vogel's release, along with the Trump administration, granted freedom to Russian citizens who were held in US prisons.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that former prisoners will be named after arriving in Russian soil in several days per AP.
Oka reached out to the State Department for comment.
