While shooting down weather balloons used by smugglers is an option, it is not the most efficient way to handle them, says the chief of Lithuania’s border guards.
“Downing or physically destroying them is just one method of neutralisation, but it’s not the most effective one. Technically, we can destroy them, but we also have to consider the risks a destroyed balloon could pose to people’s health, lives, and property,” Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT), told reporters on Tuesday.
“The destruction method would be possible in cases where the balloons are approaching the ground over strategic sites, military facilities, or military areas,” he added.
Discussions were triggered by an incident in early October when a weather balloon carrying contraband cigarettes fell down in the territory of Vilnius Airport.
Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said that in response to the threat posed by smuggler balloons, the ministry has drafted legal amendments that would allow the VSAT and officials safeguarding strategic facilities to bring them down.
Last week, border guards, the paramilitary Riflemen's Union and the military police conducted a joint exercise to test methods for neutralising weather balloons.
Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas told BNS after the exercise that drones equipped with first-person view (FPV) technology could be used to combat the balloons.
Bilotaitė said: “The most effective measure we’ve agreed on is to work with the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) and operators to make this [using weather balloons for smuggling] unprofitable and ineffective.”
CRA Deputy Chairman Darius Kuliešius said the authority has issued recommendations on how electronic communications data can help identify and investigate cases of smuggling.
“One direction involves looking at past cases to be able to carry out investigations and identify the scale of smuggling and those involved,” Kuliešius said.
“The second direction is about data that would allow us to see smuggling cases as they happen, enabling us to identify them and take measures so that those committing these crimes can’t easily control these balloons,” he added.
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has urged against overstating the threat posed by balloons coming from Belarus, saying that, with tighter border controls in place, smugglers are just looking for new ways to continue their illegal business.
According to the VSAT, Lithuanian border guards have intercepted more than 70 of the over 600 weather balloons detected so far this year.
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