February 4, Pozirk. Twenty-eight individuals in Lithuania are suspects in a criminal case stemming from the smuggling of cigarettes into Lithuania from Belarus with the help of balloons, lrt.lt reported with reference to BNS.
Among them are possible leaders of this criminal ring, the report said. Five probably controlled the smuggling operation in the Lithuanian territory, according to Artūras Urbelis, chief prosecutor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Those are elderly residents of the Salcininkai district with previous convictions, including for smuggling or illegal trade in excisable goods. The suspects were apprehended on Monday as a result of a large-scale operation, and a prosecutor’s office has already asked the court to place them into custody, it added.
According to Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, the suspects involved “criminal groups of the neighboring country” in the smuggling of cigarettes.
In 2025, Lithuania intercepted 635 balloons and 59 drones used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus, according to the State Border Guard Service. A total of 171 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the aerial smuggling. As many as 226 balloons carrying cigarette shipments were intercepted in 2024, three in 2023 and none in 2022.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania have been rising since mid-October 2025 over an influx of cigarette-smuggling balloons that have forced Lithuanian authorities to briefly close the border on several occasions and suspend operations at Vilnius Airport, located close to the Belarusian border.
Minsk barred Lithuania-registered trucks from leaving the country and ordered them to move to guarded parking sites. Lithuania, in turn, accused Belarus of escalation by seizing the vehicles and preventing their return.
On January 9, Belarus was still holding 410 Lithuanian trucks, 473 semi-trailers and 30 other vehicles, according to LINAVA, the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association.
Cigarettes cost the equivalent of about €1 per pack in Belarus and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Latvia and Lithuania, where prices start at around €5. Smuggled NZ-brand cigarettes can be purchased in Vilnius for about €2 per pack.
