April 24, Pozirk. Lithuanian customs officers cracked down on a Vilnius-based transport company suspected of supplying sanctioned goods to Belarus and Russia, lrmuitine.lt reports.
The company’s offices and premises as well as at homes of its managers and employees were searched on April 10, it noted.
Customs officers seized large amounts of money, weapons and two truckloads of “potentially sanctioned goods” worth about €1.5 million. The goods were supposed to enter Russia via Central Asian states, the report said.
The CEO and the owner were arrested and released after interrogation on their own recognizance.
Lithuania’s Customs Deportment and the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office have launched a pre-trial investigation into a violation of international sanctions.
Over the past few years, democratic countries have imposed multiple restrictions on Belarus over human rights abuses, alleged vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, a brutal crackdown on protesters, the forced landing of a Ryanair flight, a migration crisis at the European Union border, as well as support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
