Belarusian Cigarettes Found Hidden in Beet Pulp by Russian Customs Officers

Russian customs officials on the Russian-Latvian border uncovered a shipment of smuggled Belarusian cigarettes. A total of 12,500 packs were found in a railcar loaded with beet pulp.

Russian customs and border officers inspected a freight train at the Posin customs checkpoint on its way to Latvia. In one of the railcars, 25 bundles of Belarusian-made cigarettes were concealed beneath a thin layer of feed additive.

The cigarettes are estimated to be worth more than 1.9 million Russian rubles ($25,700). A criminal case has been opened under an article covering the smuggling of strategically important goods, the Russian Federal Customs Service’s Northwestern Customs Administration reported.

Another shipment of Belarusian cigarettes was found at a warehouse in Russia’s Pskov region. The value of 224,000 packs of cigarettes is estimated at 34 million Russian rubles ($460,000).