{"id":194858,"date":"2026-07-08T12:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/194858\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:15:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:15:26","slug":"lithuania-intercepts-four-drones-with-nearly-5000-packs-of-belarusian-cigarettes","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/194858\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania intercepts four drones with nearly 5,000 packs of Belarusian cigarettes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 8, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Lithuanian border guards intercepted four drones carrying smuggled Belarusian cigarettes on the night of July 4 in the Druskininkai municipality near the shared border with Belarus, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drones were carrying 4,998 packs of Queen Mentol, NZ Gold and Minsk 5 Superslims cigarettes bearing Belarusian excise stamps, with an estimated value of more than \u20ac27,500, the agency said. Lithuanian authorities launched an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuanian border guards downed 29 drones carrying contraband cigarettes from Belarus in the first half of 2026, the border service noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency said it intercepted 59 such drones in 2025 and 54 in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania over cigarette-smuggling by air started rising last October, forcing Lithuanian authorities to close the border and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport, located close to the Belarusian border, over incursion of smugglers\u2019 balloons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilnius declared an \u201cextreme situation,\u201d a low-level emergency, on December 9 in response to what it called \u201ca hybrid attack from Belarus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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