{"id":158683,"date":"2025-10-06T11:28:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T08:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/158683\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"lithuania-seizes-ten-out-of-25-cigarette-smuggling-balloons","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/158683\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania seizes ten out of 25 cigarette-smuggling balloons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(LRT \/ Lithuanian Border Guard Service)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>October 6, <em>Pozirk<\/em><\/strong>. Lithuanian authorities have found ten of the 25 weather balloons that flew in from Belarus over the weekend, <em>BNS<\/em> reports, citing Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Law enforcers arrested individuals who were allegedly going to pick up smuggled cigarettes transported by balloons, <em>LRT<\/em> said, citing the official. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigators are still searching for the suspected gang leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least 26 air balloons flew into Lithuania and Poland on the night of October 5\u20136. Most of them ended up in Lithuania, forcing Vilnius Airport to suspend operations. Disruptions affected about 30 flights and 6,000 passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The detected balloons were carrying 12,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smugglers often use balloons to send cigarettes from Belarus to the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/vilnyusskij-aeroport_tuda-suda_by-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/vilnyusskij-aeroport_tuda-suda_by-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/vilnyusskij-aeroport_tuda-suda_by-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/vilnyusskij-aeroport_tuda-suda_by-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/vilnyusskij-aeroport_tuda-suda_by-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/vilnyusskij-aeroport_tuda-suda_by.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Society<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics, Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Suspected contraband balloons disrupt Vilnius Airport, affecting 6,000 passengers<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">October 5, Pozirk. A \u201cseries of air balloons\u201d that flew into Lithuania on the night of October 5\u20136 forced Vilnius Airport to suspend operations, according to its website. Information about the balloons was received at about 10:16 p.m. To ensure &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/158602\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 6, Pozirk. Lithuanian authorities have found ten of the 25 weather balloons that flew in from Belarus over the weekend, BNS reports, citing Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center. Law enforcers arrested individuals who were allegedly going to pick up smuggled cigarettes transported by balloons, LRT said, citing the official. Investigators [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":158652,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-158683","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lithuania seizes ten out of 25 cigarette-smuggling balloons | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 6, Pozirk. Lithuanian authorities have found ten of the 25 weather balloons that flew in from Belarus over the weekend, BNS reports, citing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/158683\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lithuania seizes ten out of 25 cigarette-smuggling balloons | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 6, Pozirk. 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