Lithuanian border guards intercepted the first shipment of contraband cigarettes flown from Belarus by air balloons this year, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.
The seizure took place shortly after midnight near the border in the Varėna district, south east of the country. Officers from the Purvėnai border post, working with colleagues from the neighbouring Aleksandras Barauskas post, intercepted a shipment carried by two air balloons launched from Belarus.
The cargo contained 3,000 packs of Minsk Capital QS cigarettes bearing Belarusian excise stamps. As in similar cases, a GPS tracking device was attached to the shipment. The State Border Guard Service has launched a pretrial investigation into the illegal possession of excisable goods.
Authorities said this was the first confirmed interception this year of cigarette smuggling by air balloons from Belarus, although several radar or tracking marks characteristic of such balloons were recorded overnight.
According to the border service, the previous interception of balloon-smuggled cigarettes occurred on December 20, when three such shipments totalling more than 4,300 packs were seized.
Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said intensified controls are producing results.
“A nationwide extreme situation is currently in effect, all responsible services are working in an enhanced mode, additional measures are being applied, and the results are obvious,” Kondratovič said. “The situation is under control and manageable.”
Last year, Lithuanian border guards intercepted 635 shipments of cigarettes flown in by air balloons from Belarus. A standard shipment typically consists of three boxes of Belarusian cigarettes – about 1,500 packs – though both smaller and larger loads have been recorded. Most are equipped with GPS trackers.
In 2024, authorities recorded 226 cases of balloon-smuggled cigarettes over the entire year. No such cases were recorded in 2022, while three attempts were detected in 2023.
Overall, more than 1.4 million packs of cigarettes smuggled by drones and air balloons from Belarus were seized last year, according to the border service.
In 2025, Lithuanian border guards also detained 122 people suspected of involvement in contraband smuggling via aerial routes, up from 46 the previous year.
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