Customs seize Lithuanian truck carrying nine million illicit cigarettes

Estonian customs officials have seized a Lithuanian-registered truck carrying nine million cigarettes without Estonian tax stamps, ERR reported.

The truck was stopped in Pärnu County on August 7 during a road inspection. It was driven by a 45-year-old Lithuanian citizen.

According to the accompanying documents, a Lithuanian company had sent the shipment to a Swedish company. The cargo was listed as 32 pallets of electronic modules.

When officials opened the cargo compartment, they found cardboard boxes. After cutting into some of them, they discovered the cigarettes. The estimated loss in excise duty was 1,910,700 euros.

The driver was detained on suspicion of a crime.

Peeter Paisuots, head of the Western unit of the Tax and Customs Board’s investigation department, said the seizure was the largest discovery of illicit cigarettes in Estonia this year. He said it showed that significant quantities of illicit cigarettes were being moved through Estonia to the Nordic market.

Prosecutor Marika Salmistu said the seizure on the Via Baltica route showed that cigarette smuggling remained a persistent problem and that Estonia was being used as a transit country.

On August 9, the suspect agreed in court to a plea-bargain procedure. The court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison, of which one month is to be served immediately. The remainder was suspended for a three-year probation period. He was also banned from entering Estonia for three years.

The ruling has not yet taken effect.

The Tax and Customs Board detained nearly 37 million illicit cigarettes in total in 2025.