{"id":204716,"date":"2026-09-22T13:38:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T13:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:38:59","slug":"latvia-finds-100000-contraband-cigarettes-from-belarus-in-railcar","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcar"},"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\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(Latvian customs)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>September 22, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Latvian customs officials discovered 100,000 contraband cigarettes in a railcar carrying ore at the border with Belarus, the customs department at the State Revenue Service of Latvia reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The illegal cargo was found during an inspection of the train two days ago at the Indra railway border crossing. Boxes containing 5,000 packs of NZ Gold cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps worth nearly \u20ac30,000 were hidden under a layer of ore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cigarettes cost the equivalent of about \u20ac1 per pack in Belarus and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in the European Union, where prices start at around \u20ac5. Smuggled NZ-brand cigarettes can be purchased for about \u20ac2 per pack.<\/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\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aeroport_vilnius_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Security<\/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\">Security, Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Vilnius airport halts operations over cigarette-smuggling balloons from Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">September 22, Pozirk. The Vilnius International Airport had to suspend operations for more than three hours overnight due to a \u201chybrid attack from Belarus,\u201d after detecting navigation markers that looked like weather balloons, its press office said. Restrictions affected flights &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/204698\">\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>September 22, Pozirk. Latvian customs officials discovered 100,000 contraband cigarettes in a railcar carrying ore at the border with Belarus, the customs department at the State Revenue Service of Latvia reports. The illegal cargo was found during an inspection of the train two days ago at the Indra railway border crossing. Boxes containing 5,000 packs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":204702,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-204716","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>Latvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcar | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 22, Pozirk. Latvian customs officials discovered 100,000 contraband cigarettes in a railcar carrying ore at the border with Belarus, the customs\" \/>\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\/204716\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Latvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcar | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 22, Pozirk. Latvian customs officials discovered 100,000 contraband cigarettes in a railcar carrying ore at the border with Belarus, the customs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-09-22T10:38:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_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=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/\"},\"headline\":\"Latvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcar\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T10:38:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T10:38:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/\"},\"wordCount\":114,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/\",\"name\":\"Latvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcar | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204716\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ruda_sigarety_tamozhnia_latvija_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T10:38:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T10:38:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 22, Pozirk. 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