{"id":201602,"date":"2026-08-28T15:40:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201602\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T15:41:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:41:01","slug":"poland-arrests-nine-people-including-four-belarusians-for-allegedly-smuggling-cigarettes","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201602\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland arrests nine\u00a0people, including four Belarusians, for\u00a0allegedly smuggling\u00a0cigarettes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 28, Pozirk.<\/strong> The Podlasie Border Guard unit announced on Friday that it had arrested nine people involved in smuggling cigarettes from Belarus to Poland using weather balloons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The detainees include four citizens of Belarus, three citizens of Poland, and two citizens of Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities discovered 3,900 boxes of illicit cigarettes worth more than 620,000 zlotys (around \u20ac142,600) as part of its crackdown on the smuggling ring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators are reportedly looking to identify other members of the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the beginning of 2026, the Podlasie Border Guard unit has reportedly apprehended 40 people for smuggling cigarettes from Belarus into Poland with the help of weather balloons.  On August 27, four weather balloons with a shipment of cigarettes lacking Polish excise stamps were found in the Podlasie province, which borders on Belarus. A local police spokesperson described it as one of the biggest shipments of contraband cigarettes flown into Poland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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