Lithuania’s Customs Criminal Service (MKT) has carried out searches in Vilnius and Rudamina and detained 17 trucks and 15 semi-trailers worth 1.5 million euros as part of an investigation into violations of international sanctions.
MKT officers last week carried out searches in and around Vilnius at the premises of companies involved in freight transport and car trade, the service said on Wednesday. A total of 18 vehicles were seized and smuggled cigarettes were also found. Two Belarusian and two Lithuanian nationals were arrested.
The MKT launched the investigation on suspicion that the companies were transporting various vehicles to Russia and Belarus in breach of the existing international sanctions. A total of 30 vehicles are suspected to have ended up in Russia and Belarus, including trucks and semi-trailers, as well as luxury cars such as the 2024 BMW X3, BMW X5, BMW X6, BMW X7, Mercedes-Benz G-Class and others. The total value of these cars could reach 1.7 million euros.
Although the vehicles remained registered in Lithuania, they were also registered in Russia or Belarus.
At the start of the investigation, customs officers at the Medininkai border checkpoint detained eight trucks with seven semi-trailers from the companies concerned on suspicion of illegal exports.
As part of the investigation, on January 29, MKT officers searched the premises of the companies in Vilnius and Rudamina and nine other trucks, eight semi-trailers and one minivan were seized. In the latter, 4,000 packs of Belarusian smuggled cigarettes were also found.
In total, 17 trucks and 15 semi-trailers were detained in Lithuania during the investigation, worth around 1.5 million euros.
Two Belarusian nationals are suspected of breaching the sanctions, and a Vilnius court has sanctioned the arrest of one of them for one month and the other for two months. The other suspects are subject to lighter measures.
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