{"id":195829,"date":"2026-07-15T17:16:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/195829\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T17:16:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:16:51","slug":"poland-arrests-two-lithuanians-suspected-of-smuggling-cigarettes-from-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/195829\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland arrests two Lithuanians suspected of smuggling cigarettes from Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 15, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Two Lithuanian nationals suspected of involvement in cigarette smuggling from Belarus were arrested in the Podlaskie voivodeship on July 13, the Polish Border Guard reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They carried 350 cartons of tobacco products without Polish excise stamps. The goods had previously been smuggled across the border by a weather balloon, border guards said, noting that the incident was not isolated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Podlaskie voivodeship\u2019s border guard unit seized more than 1,760 cartons of cigarettes worth more than $110,000, the press release said without specifying the period during which the seizures were made.<\/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 incursions 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

\n\n
\n \"\"