Cops in Moscow, Russia, apprehended musician Travis Michael Leake, a U.S. person, last week on charges of running a drug trafficking ring “including young people.”
Russian state media announced the arrest on Saturday and stated Leake might confront twenty years in jail.
Russian state media posted a video of Leake and a friend named Valeria Grobanyuk being nabbed throughout a drug raid. In the clip, Leake revealed confusion about the factor for his arrest.
“I don’t understand why I’m here. I do not confess regret, I do not believe I might have done what I’m implicated of because I do not understand what I’m accused of,” he reportedly told the Moscow cops.
Russian reports stated Leake is suspected of selling mephedrone, a drug with impacts comparable to cocaine or MDMA. A Moscow court bought him to be kept in pre-trial detention for at least 2 months.
Leake is an artist and rock band manager who has actually composed songs and performed backup vocals for numerous Russian punk rock bands. His social media profile says he has been the prima donna for a Moscow-based group called Lovi Noch (“Seize the Night”) for the previous five years.
In 2014, Leake appeared on an episode of “Parts Unknown,” an offbeat travelog and food show hosted by the late Anthony Bourdain. The episode included discussions with numerous critics of the significantly authoritarian program of Vladimir Putin– among whom, former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, was assassinated a year after the episode aired.
Leake, who was apparently “hand-picked” by Bourdain to appear in the episode, spoke about the difficulty of creating art and music under Putin’s corrupt and paranoid government. He grumbled about the capability of the Russian federal government to control and censor productions made by foreign media outlets, which he stated was already “a scandal of impressive percentage” ten years ago.
“Travis was a showman; really articulate and he loved Russia. Bands from the Moscow rock scene would go to him to compose songs in English for them and check their lyrics,” previous “Components Unknown” producer Darya Tarasova informed CNN on Sunday.
Tarasova continued:
The last time we spoke remained in 2018 and he seemed depressed and upset, however Travis would never ever do the things he is being implicated of. He is an American in Russia and is extremely aware of the scenario he remains in. However I’m surprised he stayed after the war began, as it was very risky for him.
Leake was rather more circumspect in Facebook posts he wrote after Russia invaded Ukraine. The UK Guardian quoted several posts he composed to loved ones who were concerned about him staying in Russia, where he had lived for about 10 years.
“I am a visitor in Russia, and as such, I have actually constantly believed that I have no right to push any political opinion, whether for or against whatever topic might remain in concern,” he wrote in one such Facebook post.
In another, he published an image of himself holding a sheet of paper that stated, “Evidence of life. Continue to not stress.”
Russian media claimed Leake is a “previous U.S. paratrooper,” but worldwide media outlets were unable to verify any military service from him as of Monday morning.
The U.S. State Department provided a terse email about Leake’s arrest, specifying that authorities from the U.S. embassy had the ability to attend his arraignment on Saturday.
“When a U.S. citizen is apprehended overseas, the Department pursues consular access as quickly as possible and works to offer all suitable consular help. We will continue to keep an eye on the case carefully,” the statement stated.
Leake’s mother, Glenda Garcia, told CNN on Sunday that she had not been gotten in touch with by the Joe Biden administration.
“I have actually not spoken with the State Department. If I do not hear from them tomorrow, I will attempt to call them. I don’t actually know anything other than what I heard on the news,” she stated.
Leake’s detention comes on the heels of Russia’s widely-condemned March arrest of Wall Street Journal press reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was implicated of espionage.
Many reports of Leake’s arrest also drew parallels with the case of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was apprehended in February 2022 and released in a ridiculously lopsided detainee swap the following December in which the Biden administration handed over Viktor Bout, among the most unsafe arms dealerships in the world.
The U.S. enforced sanctions on Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) intelligence service in April 2023 for taking Americans like Gershkovich and Griner “captive.”
Related– White Home: “Some Autocrats” May Take Griner Swap as Reward to Kidnap More Americans