{"id":173099,"date":"2026-01-26T16:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lithuania-intercepts-balloons-drone-with-cigarettes-smuggled-from-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania intercepts balloons, drone with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>January 26,<\/strong><em> <strong>Pozirk.<\/strong><\/em> Lithuanian border guards intercepted five balloons and one drone carrying illegal cigarettes from Belarus on January 24 and 25, said the country\u2019s State Border Guard Service. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Border guards seized nearly 20,000 packs of cigarettes. The drone, for instance, carried 1,000 packs of the NZ Gold cigarettes worth about \u20ac5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigations are under way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the start of 2025, border guards seized 16 batches of cigarettes delivered from Belarus to Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On January 23, the border guard service reported the arrest of a Lithuanian citizen who arrived to pick smuggled cigarettes in December but fled the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, Lithuania intercepted 635 balloons and 59 drones used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus into Lithuania, according to the State Border Guard Service. Last year, 171 people were arrested in Lithuania on suspicion of involvement in smuggling by air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Balloons have been a source of tensions between Lithuania and Belarus, prompting Vilnius to close the border for three weeks last fall and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport on several occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cigarettes cost an equivalent of around \u20ac1 at stores in Belarus and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Latvia and Lithuania, where prices start at around \u20ac5. Smuggled NZ cigarettes can be bought at \u20ac2 per pack in Vilnius.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 26, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards intercepted five balloons and one drone carrying illegal cigarettes from Belarus on January 24 and 25, said the country\u2019s State Border Guard Service. &nbsp; Border guards seized nearly 20,000 packs of cigarettes. The drone, for instance, carried 1,000 packs of the NZ Gold cigarettes worth about \u20ac5,000. Investigations are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[17,14],"class_list":["post-173099","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-economy","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lithuania intercepts balloons, drone with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"January 26, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards intercepted five balloons and one drone carrying illegal cigarettes from Belarus on January 24 and 25, said\" \/>\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\/173099\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lithuania intercepts balloons, drone with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 26, Pozirk. Lithuanian border guards intercepted five balloons and one drone carrying illegal cigarettes from Belarus on January 24 and 25, said\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/\"},\"headline\":\"Lithuania intercepts balloons, drone with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-26T13:55:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/\"},\"wordCount\":208,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/\",\"name\":\"Lithuania intercepts balloons, drone with cigarettes smuggled from Belarus | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/173099\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-26T13:55:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"January 26, Pozirk. 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