{"id":181158,"date":"2026-03-26T18:41:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T18:41:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:41:49","slug":"lithuanian-border-guards-intercept-cigarette-smuggling-drone-from-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian border guards intercept cigarette-smuggling drone from Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>March 26, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Lithuanian border guards shot down a drone carrying cigarettes from Belarus on the night between March 24 and March 25, Lithuania\u2019s State Border Guard Service said in a press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident occurred in the \u0160al\u010dininkai district in Lithuania, the press release said. Border guards subsequently found the downed drone and two packages containing 240 packs of NZ Gold cigarettes featuring Belarusian excise stamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A civil inquiry has been opened in connection with the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the border control agency, Lithuanian border guards have intercepted 10 drones with cigarettes from Belarus this year, compared with 59 in 2025 and 54 in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LRT previously reported that a weather balloon carrying 1,500 packs of smuggled Belarusian cigarettes landed in a private yard in the town of \u017die\u017emariai in Lithuania early on March 26. The owner of the estate reported the find to the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between January 1 and March 12, Lithuanian border guards intercepted at least 57 shipments of cigarettes delivered by balloons from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, Lithuania intercepted 635 such air shipments, with 171 individuals arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cigarette smuggling has been a significant source of tension between Belarus and Lithuania. In late 2025, Vilnius declared an \u201cextreme situation\u201d \u2013 a low-level emergency\u2014over incursions by weather balloons carrying contraband goods that disrupted operations at the country\u2019s airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cigarettes cost around \u20ac1 per pack in Belarus, making them significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Lithuania, where prices start at about \u20ac5. Smuggled NZ-brand cigarettes can be purchased in Vilnius for around \u20ac2 per pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sigarety_sogg-1-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sigarety_sogg-1-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sigarety_sogg-1-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sigarety_sogg-1.jpg 642w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Society<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Balloon with Belarusian cigarettes lands at Lithuania\u2019s private estate<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">March 26, Pozirk. A weather balloon carrying 1,500 packs of smuggled Belarusian cigarettes landed in a private yard in the town of \u017die\u017emariai in Lithuania early on March 26, LRT reported. The owner of the estate reported the find to &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/181120\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read <\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 26, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards shot down a drone carrying cigarettes from Belarus on the night between March 24 and March 25, Lithuania\u2019s State Border Guard Service said in a press release. The incident occurred in the \u0160al\u010dininkai district in Lithuania, the press release said. Border guards subsequently found the downed drone and two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":159621,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-181158","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lithuanian border guards intercept cigarette-smuggling drone from Belarus | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 26, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards shot down a drone carrying cigarettes from Belarus on the night between March 24 and March 25, Lithuania\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lithuanian border guards intercept cigarette-smuggling drone from Belarus | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 26, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards shot down a drone carrying cigarettes from Belarus on the night between March 24 and March 25, Lithuania\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-26T15:41:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dron_sigarety_sogg_litvy_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/\"},\"headline\":\"Lithuanian border guards intercept cigarette-smuggling drone from Belarus\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-26T15:41:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T15:41:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dron_sigarety_sogg_litvy_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/\",\"name\":\"Lithuanian border guards intercept cigarette-smuggling drone from Belarus | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181158\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dron_sigarety_sogg_litvy_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-26T15:41:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T15:41:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"March 26, Pozirk. 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