Lithuanian border guards say Belarus major supplier of smuggled cigarettes

December 16, BPN. Lithuanian border guards confiscated over 2.8 million packs of smuggled cigarettes in the first nine months of 2022, a 12 percent increase compared to the entire 2021, delfi.lt reported.

Smuggled cigarettes could have caused economic damage of about €9.1 million, while smugglers keep expanding their activities as the illicit cigarette business remains lucrative, border guards noted.

Ninety-nine percent of smuggled cigarettes come from Belarus, manufactured by the Hrodna tobacco plant Nioman, said Giedrius Mišutis of the Lithuanian Border Guard Service.

Most of the smuggled cigarettes enter Lithuania in trucks often carrying up to 600.000 packs each, said Gediminas Kulikauskas of the customs criminal service. Cigarettes are sometimes hidden under the official cargo, in carriages, locomotives, and in special hiding places, he added.