BREAKING: Trump admin secures release of US citizen detained in Russia on drug charges

28-year-old American citizen Kalob Byers, who was detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges earlier this month, has been released.

According to the Associated Press, Byers had been detained on February 7 at Vnukovo airport in Moscow after customs officials said they had found cannabis-laced marmalade in Byers’ luggage. He had reportedly traveled from Istanbul with his Russian fiance, who was also detained. Officials said that he had attempted to smuggle a "significant amount" of drugs into the country and placed him in custody on charges of drug smuggling. The charge carries a prison term of up to 10 years.

Byers has been released from custody and is reportedly in the US Embassy in Moscow awaiting a flight back to the US. A US official confirmed to the outlet that Byers had been released from custody late Sunday evening.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Monday in response to a question about Byers that Moscow expects "to discuss restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations" at talks set to take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday between the US and Russia, "so certain events can be viewed in this context." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are set to hold Ukraine peace talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov on Tuesday.

This comes after Marc Fogel, a teacher who had been imprisoned in Russia since 2021 for bringing medical marijuana into Russia, was released.