Smuggling balloon cigarette shipments fall sharply, border guards say

Smuggling shipments of cigarettes brought from Belarus by balloons have fallen sharply this year, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) told LRT, citing data reported by ELTA.

Late Monday evening, radar detected signs characteristic of smuggling balloons. Twelve boxes believed to have been transported in this way were later found in Varėna district.

VSAT adviser Giedrius Mišutis said 150 balloon-delivered shipments had been intercepted so far this year, compared with 635 during the whole of last year. Six shipments were intercepted in August and 11 in September, compared with 68 in September last year.

Mišutis attributed the decline to measures taken by state institutions and law enforcement agencies, including the dismantling of criminal groups, various operations and the work of a joint law enforcement group. He said court decisions and other measures had produced results, although the phenomenon had not disappeared.

Police, VSAT, the Customs Criminal Service and the Military Police have carried out raids in border districts since November 24, 2025. During that period, officers checked more than 93,000 people, intercepted 163 balloons, found nearly 700,000 smuggled cigarettes, detained 88 suspects and launched 26 pretrial investigations.

The government declared a nationwide state of emergency at the end of last year because of the smuggling balloon crisis. Balloon incursions from Belarus also disrupted operations at Vilnius Airport several times in October, November and December last year. Lithuania has appealed to the International Civil Aviation Organization over repeated influxes of meteorological balloons from Belarus.