MOSCOW (Reuters) – Authorities in Russia have detained a U.S. citizen at a Moscow airport on drug smuggling charges, Mash, a Telegram channel which has sources in Russia’s security services reported on Friday.
News of the arrest comes days after Moscow freed Marc Fogel, a U.S. schoolteacher who had been jailed for 14 years for bringing marijuana into Russia. Fogel was freed in exchange for Alexander Vinnik, a Russian citizen jailed for money laundering in the U.S.
Mash reported that the U.S. citizen, who it named only as K. Byers, had been detained on arrival at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and faced up to seven years in jail if found guilty of drugs charges by a court.
It said that half a kilo of marijuana had been found in his luggage.
Asked about the report, a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Moscow told Reuters: “Due to privacy restrictions we have nothing to share at this point.”
U.S. citizens have repeatedly been detained under Russia’s tough drug laws. In 2022, basketball player Brittney Griner was detained and sentenced to nine years in prison for bringing hash oil into Russia. She was freed in a prisoner exchange later that year.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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