{"id":201934,"date":"2026-08-31T22:45:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201934\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T22:45:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:45:50","slug":"two-poles-arrested-near-belarus-border-on-suspicion-of-smuggling-cigarettes","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201934\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Poles arrested near Belarus border on suspicion of smuggling cigarettes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 31, Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>Two citizens of Poland were arrested in the August\u00f3w district near the Belarusian border after a balloon carrying 7,500 cigarettes landed nearby, Polish police reported on August 31.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police officers found the cigarettes bearing no Polish excise stamps in a package attached to the balloon.  Later they spotted a suspicious car with two men inside, who claimed that they were looking for a good place for fishing. However, the officers noticed that they had no fishing gear and that a mobile phone in their vehicle displayed geolocation data pointing to the balloon\u2019s landing site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two suspects, 29 and 37 years of age, were charged with smuggling goods estimated at 250,000 z\u0142otys (around $67,000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 27, PAP<\/em> reported that four ballons with attached shipments of smuggled cigarettes had been found in the Podlasie province, which borders on Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 28, the Podlasie Border Guard unit announced that it had arrested nine people involved in smuggling cigarettes from Belarus to Poland using weather balloons. The detainees included four citizens of Belarus, three citizens of Poland, and two citizens of Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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