Russia has reportedly freed a second American detained on drug charges, less than a week after releasing teacher Marc Fogel from three years in captivity.
A U.S. official on Monday confirmed Russian media reports that Kalob Wayne Byers, 28, was released about ten days after he was detained at the Vnukovo airport in Moscow along with his Russian fiancée.
Byers and his fiancée were taken into custody on February 7 upon arrival from Istanbul. Customs officials said they found “cannabis-laced gummies or marmalade” in his bags. Russian officials accused him of smuggling a “significant amount” of banned cannabis into the country, a charge that might have landed him in prison for ten years.
Russian media said Byers was released into the care of the U.S. embassy in Moscow on Sunday evening and will fly back to the United States as soon as possible.
According to Byers’ family, he had traveled to Russia via Istanbul to finalize the details of marrying his fiancée and was carrying cannabis gummies to treat his epilepsy. His father said he suffered an epileptic seizure while in detention on Friday but was not given the medication he needed.
Byers’ mother, Tonya Shular, described her son as “an upstanding citizen getting ready to marry the love of his life.” He is a resident of West Virginia who works at a hospital.
Mark Fogel, 63, was detained by Russian customs agents in 2021 for possessing half an ounce of medical marijuana. He returned to the United States last Wednesday after spending three years in Russian jail, fulsomely praising President Donald Trump and his State Department as “heroes” for arranging his release.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged Byers’ release on Monday and said it was part of an effort to “restore the entirety of Russian-American relations.”
Peskov hinted the speedy release of Byers was part of laying the groundwork for as-yet unscheduled talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin concerning the war in Ukraine.
As of Monday morning, there was no public word on whether Byers’ Russian fiancée, Naida Mambetova, was still in custody.
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