{"id":208767,"date":"2026-10-23T20:53:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/208767\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T20:53:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:53:43","slug":"lithuania-arrests-six-over-cigarette-smuggling-from-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/208767\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania arrests six over cigarette smuggling from Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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October 23, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Lithuanian authorities arrested six people yesterday on suspicion of smuggling cigarettes by balloons from Belarus, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Border guards set up an ambush near a private house in K\u0117dainiai, a town located in central Lithuania, where four suspects were arrested while delivering and receiving Belarus-made cigarettes, presumably brought into Lithuania by air. Two more suspects, residents of the \u0160al\u010dininkai district, were transporting another batch of contraband cigarettes to K\u0117dainiai and were arrested later in the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuanian border guards have reportedly intercepted 181 shipments of cigarettes delivered by balloons from Belarus this year. The number of such incidents reached 635 last year, up from 226 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, in December 2025 in response to what it called \u201ca hybrid attack from Belarus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cigarettes cost the equivalent of about \u20ac1 per pack in Belarus and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Lithuania, where prices start at around \u20ac5. Smuggled NZ-brand cigarettes can be purchased in Vilnius for about \u20ac2 per pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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