June 2, Pozirk. Officers of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service shot a Lithuanian national suspected of smuggling Belarusian cigarettes into Lithuania, the border guards’ press office reported.
The incident occurred around 9 pm on Saturday in the Vilnius district close to the Belarusian border. The suspect driving a Volkswagen Passat car did not obey border guards’ orders who wanted to search the vehicle. He reportedly accelerated, endangering the life of a border service officer on his way.
The officer shot at the car, aiming for the wheel, but the bullet fatally wounded the driver.
Border guards said they discovered smuggled cigarettes during the subsequent search of the vehicle. Police launched a pre-trial investigation into the incident.
Earlier, Lithuanian officials warned that high demand in the European Union and Belarusian authorities’ support for smuggling were the key factors contributing to the unabated smuggling of cigarettes.
