Lithuania arrests 21 in alleged cigarette smuggling ring using weather balloons from Belarus
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanian authorities said Tuesday they had arrested 21 people allegedly connected to a criminal network that smuggled cigarettes using specially equipped weather balloons from Russia-allied Belarus which have violated the Baltic country’s airspace in recent weeks.
Investigators conducted more than 80 searches, seizing cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps, SIM cards, communication and tracking signal jammers and firearms among other things, the Lithuanian general prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Luxury cars and valuable property were also confiscated.
Lithuania earlier this month declared a national emergency over security risks posed by the meteorological balloons sent from Belarus.
The balloons forced Lithuania to repeatedly shut down its main airport, stranding thousands of people, and led to the closure of border crossings between the two countries, as Europe remains on alert over previous intrusions into NATO airspace during the war in Ukraine.
Tuesday’s operation involved more than 140 officers from the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, Vilnius police and special anti-terrorism units.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement the alleged network was “characterized by a very strict conspiracy and distribution of roles, cigarette smuggling was carried out systematically, in a coordinated manner, under strict control of its organizers (leaders) and their trustees.”
The prosecutors allege that “the organizers may have had direct contacts with accomplices operating in the Republic of Belarus, from where, under favorable weather conditions, balloons with smuggled cigarettes were launched.”
“Using tracking (GPS) equipment and appropriate programs, the movement of the balloons was monitored, and the exact coordinates of their landing in Lithuania were transmitted to the executors,” prosecutors said. “After collecting the contraband, the latter had to deliver it to pre-agreed points or hand it over to other persons involved in the crimes.”
The Lithuanian authorities said that all 21 suspects would face charges of participating in a criminal organization, illegal handling and smuggling of excise goods and aiding another state in acting against Lithuania.