{"id":205768,"date":"2026-10-01T12:49:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T12:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:49:54","slug":"belarus-interior-minister-drugs-smuggled-into-belarus-by-weather-balloons","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(vsat.lrv.lt)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>October 1, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister Ivan Kubrako\u016d has told the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) interior ministers\u2019 meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis year, we encountered a new method of illegally transporting large shipments across our country\u2019s western borders: weather balloons equipped with geolocation and mobile communications systems. We have identified multiple shipments originating in Poland for onward transit to Russia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Belarusian authorities seized more than 142 kilograms of narcotics and psychotropic substances in the Hrodna region bordering Poland and Lithuania, he added, noting several arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kubrako\u016d\u2019s statement comes after neighboring EU countries have been dealing with cigarette-smuggling balloons from Belarus for about a year.<\/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\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Security<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Society<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Security, Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Vilnius airport halts operations over cigarette-smuggling balloons from Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">September 22, Pozirk. The Vilnius International Airport had to suspend operations for more than three hours overnight due to a \u201chybrid attack from Belarus,\u201d after detecting navigation markers that looked like weather balloons, its press office said. Restrictions affected flights &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/204698\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister Ivan Kubrako\u016d has told the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) interior ministers\u2019 meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. \u201cThis year, we encountered a new method of illegally transporting large shipments across our country\u2019s western [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":164242,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-205768","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>Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-01T09:49:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\"},\"headline\":\"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-01T09:49:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-01T09:49:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\"},\"wordCount\":134,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\",\"name\":\"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-01T09:49:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-01T09:49:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg\",\"width\":1128,\"height\":752},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons | Pozirk","description":"October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons | Pozirk","og_description":"October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-10-01T09:49:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1128,"height":752,"url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/"},"headline":"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons","datePublished":"2026-10-01T09:49:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:49:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/"},"wordCount":134,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/","name":"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-01T09:49:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:49:54+00:00","description":"October 1, Pozirk. Belarus has been recording cases of drugs smuggled into the country across its western border by weather balloons, Interior Minister","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kontrabanda_meteozond_shar_aerostat_vsat_1128x752.jpg","width":1128,"height":752},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205768\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Belarus interior minister: drugs smuggled into Belarus by weather balloons"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/205768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=205768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}