{"id":179448,"date":"2026-03-15T13:34:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T10:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/179448\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T13:34:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T10:34:33","slug":"vilnius-airport-suspends-operations-due-to-cigarette-smuggling-balloons","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/179448\/","title":{"rendered":"Vilnius airport suspends operations due to cigarette-smuggling balloons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>March 15, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Vilnius International Airport suspended operations from 9:46 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. on March 14 because of incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus, <em>Delfi<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The previous similar suspension was reported on February 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lithuanian border guards intercepted 57 cargos of cigarettes smuggled from Belarus by air balloons from January 1 to March 12, said the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was a marked decline from 189 in the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Border guards detained 28 people suspected of involvement in smuggling this year. In 2025, border guards detained 171 suspects and intercepted 635 air cargoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smuggling of cigarettes caused significant tensions between Belarus and Lithuania last year. In late 2025, Vilnius declared an \u201cextreme situation,\u201d a low-level emergency, over incursions of weather balloons that carried contraband goods.<\/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 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>March 15, Pozirk. Vilnius International Airport suspended operations from 9:46 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. on March 14 because of incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus, Delfi reported. The previous similar suspension was reported on February 17. Lithuanian border guards intercepted 57 cargos of cigarettes smuggled from Belarus by air balloons from January [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":179445,"template":"","rubric":[17,14,30],"class_list":["post-179448","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-economy","rubric-politics","rubric-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vilnius airport suspends operations due to cigarette-smuggling balloons | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 15, Pozirk. Vilnius International Airport suspended operations from 9:46 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. on March 14 because of incursions by air balloons\" \/>\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\/179448\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vilnius airport suspends operations due to cigarette-smuggling balloons | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 15, Pozirk. 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