The cigarette smuggling suspects are believed to be the people behind the mysterious Belarusian balloons, which recently alarmed Lithuania and forced it to close the border and declare a state of emergency.
Lithuanian authorities announced on Tuesday that they have arrested 21 people, suspected of being members of a criminal group, on the grounds that they were using GPS-equipped balloons to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus, writes Politico.
The state prosecutor's office emphasized in a statement that the suspected network was characterized by a very strict conspiracy and division of roles, and that the organizers may have had direct contact with accomplices operating in Belarus, from where, under favorable weather conditions, balloons with smuggled cigarettes were launched.
Lithuanian authorities said that GPS tracking enabled surveillance of the balloons and that the exact coordinates of their landing in Lithuania were sent to the executioners.
The state declared a state of emergency across the entire territory last week due to the balloons, after closing the border with Belarus in October.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Politico at the time that balloons the size of cars entering Lithuanian airspace carrying contraband cigarettes constituted “hybrid activity,” even though they did not pose a direct security threat.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the escalation of the balloons from Belarus, saying on December 1 that "such a hybrid attack by the Lukashenko regime is completely unacceptable."
According to data from the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, at least 600 balloons and 200 drones have entered Lithuanian airspace so far in 2025, disrupting more than 300 flights, affecting 47 passengers and causing approximately 60 hours of airport closures.
The arrests of suspected cigarette smugglers come at a time when countries on the EU's eastern flank, facing Russia, are asking Brussels to accelerate future initiatives to strengthen border protection, facing opposition from some European capitals. /Telegraph/
Source of information @Telegrafi: Read more at:the world today www.botasot.al
