A 51-year-old American living in Moscow was arrested on reported drug trafficking charges last week, according to Russian media.
"I am not admitting to any guilt," Leake said in a video posted on social media by Russian media.
Leake's reported arrest comes amid a series of detentions of other Americans in Russia on what the U.S. calls "false charges," including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. The State Department said it's aware of reports of an American detained in Moscow, but has declined comment otherwise.podcast host Brad Mielke spoke to ABC News foreign correspondent Patrick Reevell about the detention and fears about other Americans living in Russia.
Well guess what? As Griner is back home, another American has now been arrested on drug charges in Moscow. And he was not someone who was known to us. He is not a well-known person. He's not a famous person. He is ultimately an ordinary American, but who has spent a long time living in Russia. He's been there now since 2010 and has spent most of the past decade, on and off, living in Moscow. And I think one of the main distinguishing features of Travis Leake is that he really loves Russian rock music.
REEVELL: So the first thing to say is that we really don't know if the drug charges against him could be legitimate.
But now you're talking about maybe ex-pats that live in Russia being taken, even if they're being taken hostage, does the U.S. start making deals for them? At some point, I'm sure there's a lot of Americans here being like, just don't travel to Russia, like, not the time. Is it to the point where people just should not be there because they could be next?
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