Man wanted for six years arrested at Vilnius airport

Border guards at Vilnius Airport have arrested a 36-year-old Lithuanian man wanted since November 2020 for a drug-related offence, LRT reports.

The man, who arrived on a flight from London, was detained during document checks on Thursday afternoon. Authorities confirmed he was sought by Vilnius police for the illegal possession of narcotic substances. He was handed over to police officers who arrived at the airport shortly after his detention.

In a separate incident the same day, border guards at the Šalčininkai border control point near the Belarusian border arrested a 52-year-old Moldovan citizen wanted via Interpol. The man, a passenger in a Mercedes-Benz registered in Moldova, was detained, taken to a service facility for inspection, and later transferred to Šalčininkai district police.

According to the State Border Guard Service (VSAT), 247 wanted individuals—197 of them at airports—have been detained in Lithuania in the first half of this year. The majority, 229, were Lithuanian citizens, followed by four from Latvia, three each from Belarus, the UK and Russia, two from Moldova, and one each from Ireland, Romania and Turkey.

In 2025, border guards detained 803 wanted persons, 583 of them at airports. Most were Lithuanian citizens (702), with others from Russia (38), the UK (15), Belarus and Latvia (11 each), Ireland (4), and smaller numbers from Moldova, Sweden, Ukraine, Israel, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.