{"id":182633,"date":"2026-04-07T17:24:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:24:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:24:55","slug":"lithuanian-border-guards-intercept-11th-drone-with-smuggled-cigarettes-this-year","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian border guards intercept 11th drone with smuggled cigarettes this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>April<\/strong><strong> 7, <\/strong><strong><em>Pozirk<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong> Lithuanian border guards intercepted a drone carrying 1000 packs of smuggled cigarettes from Belarus near the village of Dubo, Var\u0117na district, in the early hours of April 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was the seventh cigarette-smuggling drone intercepted by Lithuanian border guards this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smugglers also use weather balloons to smuggle cigarettes, big enough to cause disruptions to airports.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 7, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards intercepted a drone carrying 1000 packs of smuggled cigarettes from Belarus near the village of Dubo, Var\u0117na district, in the early hours of April 5. That was the seventh cigarette-smuggling drone intercepted by Lithuanian border guards this year. Smugglers also use weather balloons to smuggle cigarettes, big enough to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":182627,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-182633","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 11th drone with smuggled cigarettes this year | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"April 7, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards intercepted a drone carrying 1000 packs of smuggled cigarettes from Belarus near the village of Dubo, Var\u0117na\" \/>\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\/182633\/\" \/>\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 11th drone with smuggled cigarettes this year | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 7, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards intercepted a drone carrying 1000 packs of smuggled cigarettes from Belarus near the village of Dubo, Var\u0117na\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-04-07T14:24:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dron_sogg.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=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/\"},\"headline\":\"Lithuanian border guards intercept 11th drone with smuggled cigarettes this year\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-07T14:24:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T14:24:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/\"},\"wordCount\":169,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dron_sogg.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/\",\"name\":\"Lithuanian border guards intercept 11th drone with smuggled cigarettes this year | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/182633\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dron_sogg.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-07T14:24:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T14:24:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"April 7, Pozirk. 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