{"id":188663,"date":"2026-05-22T16:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/188663\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T16:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:46:34","slug":"lithuania-cracks-down-on-border-guards-police-over-suspected-smuggling","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/188663\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania cracks down on border guards, police over suspected smuggling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>May 22, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Lithuanian law enforcers arrested 27 people on suspicion of involvement in smuggling by air, including 13 police officers and border guards, <em>Delfi<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The arrests are part of an ongoing large-scale operation launched last December that targeted the gang\u2019s leaders, said Marius Draudvila, deputy police commissioner general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eight of the arrested officers served at the \u0160al\u010dininkai district police station, two at the Vilnius city police headquarters, and three at the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service. Another arrested person worked at the \u0160al\u010dininkai district municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are suspected of abuse of office, smuggling and aiding another state in actions against Lithuania, said Martynas Jovai\u0161a,\u00a0chief prosecutor\u00a0of the organized crime and corruption investigation department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginien\u0117 said the operation had been planned for several months, during which intelligence and evidence were collected. She acknowledged that accomplices of smugglers may have been operating within the system for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, Lithuanian border guards detected 917 cases of smuggling and illegal transportation of goods, 911 of which involved cigarettes, up from 637 incidents in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Strengthened border protections along the Lithuanian-Belarusian border have made land-based smuggling more difficult, forcing smugglers to use weather balloons. These caused tensions between the two countries last fall. In early December, Vilnius declared a low-level emergency over incursions by smugglers\u2019 weather balloons that disrupted operations at the country\u2019s airports.<\/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\/2025\/10\/sigarety_shary_sogg-1-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sigarety_shary_sogg-1-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sigarety_shary_sogg-1-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sigarety_shary_sogg-1-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sigarety_shary_sogg-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sigarety_shary_sogg-1.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Security<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics, Security<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Lithuania sends ICAO evidence of balloon incursions from Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">May 19, Pozirk. Lithuanian Transport Minister Juras Taminskas has submitted additional evidence of hybrid attacks from Belarus targeting Lithuania\u2019s civil aviation to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the ministry\u2019s press office reports. Three months ago, Vilnius formally complained to &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/188118\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 22, Pozirk. Lithuanian law enforcers arrested 27 people on suspicion of involvement in smuggling by air, including 13 police officers and border guards, Delfi reports. The arrests are part of an ongoing large-scale operation launched last December that targeted the gang\u2019s leaders, said Marius Draudvila, deputy police commissioner general. Eight of the arrested officers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-188663","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>Lithuania cracks down on border guards, police over suspected smuggling | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 22, Pozirk. 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