Passieniečių dog bites suspected smuggler during Vilniaus district bust

A service dog with Lithuania’s border guards bit a suspected smuggler during a raid in Vilniaus district last week, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) said on Friday.

According to VSAT’s Vilnius border unit, officers tracked an inflatable balloon carrying 3,000 packets of cigarettes from Belarus to a field near Keipūnai village. A trap was set and three men arrived in an Audi Q7 to collect the cargo. One of them allegedly kicked a border guard and the dog before being bitten, after which all three were detained.

Border guards said the men were intoxicated, with blood-alcohol readings between 0.19 and 1.97 ‰. They also found a suspected cannabis cigarette, gas cylinder, a mask, a bank card issued to another person, and tracking devices in the car and cargo.

The seized cigarettes bore Belarusian tax stamps and are estimated to have evaded around €50,000 in excise duties. A pre-trial investigation has been opened under the Lithuanian Criminal Code for illegal handling of excise goods, punishable by up to four years in prison.

On Friday, a Vilnius district court ordered the three men held in pre-trial detention for one month while the case proceeds.