Ten of the 25 weather balloons that flew into Lithuania from Belarus over the weekend and disrupted flights at Vilnius Airport have been found and a number of suspected smugglers have been detained, an official said on Monday morning.
The authorities believe the balloons were used by smugglers to transport contraband cigarettes.
“Ten balloons have been found. Police operations are underway and searches are continuing for those organising these activities – the smugglers,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), told LRT RADIO. “I know there's already some positive news about the operation.”
He said several people had been detained on suspicion of trying to retrieve contraband cigarette shipments carried by the balloons.
According to Vitkauskas, no new balloons were detected overnight.
“We don’t yet have full data, but initial information suggests that no balloons were visually observed. Radar showed one possible object, but that may have been an error,” he said.
“It was a calm night – no repeat of the balloon incursion we saw yesterday,” he added.
The 25 meteorological balloons were launched from Belarus and flew into Lithuania overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
Of the 13 that reached Vilnius, two entered the airport territory, which led to all flights getting grounded between 22:16 on Saturday and 04:50 on Sunday morning. The disruptions affected about 30 flights and 6,000 passengers in total.
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