Lithuania closes border crossing to Belarusian cargo trains over smuggling

February 15, BPN. Lithuania is closing the Stasylos-Beniakoni railway border crossing on February 16, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported.

Cargo trains running between Belarus and Lithuania will be able to pass only through the Hudahaj-Kena border crossing, it added.

Border authorities explained the move by threats to national security, noting a spike in smuggling at Stasylos-Beniakoni in recent years. On average, two trains per day passed through this border crossing.

In 2022, Lithuania thwarted 28 smuggling attempts, intercepting over 2.5 million cigarette packs. The border crossing accounted for 87.6 percent of the total number of smuggled cigarettes intercepted on the railway, border guards noted.

Belarusian trains will not be allowed through the Stasylos checkpoint until a stationary X-ray screening system is installed there, they said. Its commissioning is scheduled for late 2024. A similar system will be also installed at the Kybartai border crossing at the Lithuanian-Russia border.

The border guards reported a 28 percent in cigarette interceptions in 2022 with the main flows coming from Belarus. In 2022, Lithuanian border guards intercepted a record number of smuggled cigarettes with over 4.3 million packs worth at least €16.1 million.