Border guards detain three over balloon-smuggled cigarettes in Vilnius

Lithuanian border guards detained three men and seized about 36,000 packs of cigarettes bearing Belarusian excise stamps during an operation in Vilnius on Monday, LRT reported. The cigarettes are suspected of having been brought from Belarus by balloon.

State Border Guard Service officers were monitoring a garage complex in the Pašilaičiai district when they saw cars bearing Lithuanian registration plates enter. After the complex gates reopened, officers tried to stop two vehicles as they left.

The driver of a BMW X5 failed to stop and rammed a border guard vehicle, damaging it. An officer used a weapon loaded with a gas cartridge to stop the fleeing SUV. The driver continued to flee but was stopped in the courtyard of an apartment building, the service said. He is a 25-year-old Vilnius resident.

Officers also detained the driver of a Mercedes-Benz near the garages. He is a 38-year-old resident of Šalčininkai district. During searches of several garages, officers found about 36,000 packs of cigarettes. Their exact number and brands are being established. Balloon remains found there led officers to suspect the cigarettes had been flown in from Belarus.

As the investigation continued, officers detained a 34-year-old Šalčininkai district resident in a Volkswagen Passat in a Pašilaičiai residential courtyard. He is suspected of also being involved in transporting excise goods.

All three men were placed in detention, and authorities are considering what pre-trial measures to impose. The State Border Guard Service’s Pagėgiai Border Guard Unit has opened a pre-trial investigation into the illegal handling of excise goods, led by a prosecutor from the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The offence carries a fine or a prison sentence of up to eight years.