A Belarusian and a Lithuanian have been detained in Lithuania for transporting counterfeit cigarettes, the Lithuanian Border Guard Service reports.
On Saturday, August 29, border guards noticed pallets of boxes being transferred from a Polish truck to a Danish one at the port of Klaipėda. The boxes contained 224,000 packs of Winston Slender, Malboro, Malboro Gold and Prince Red cigarettes without excise stamps. The cigarettes are estimated to be worth nearly €1.4 million.
Two people were detained: a 48-year-old Belarusian citizen and a 44-year-old resident of Kaunas District. The Belarusian was legally staying in Lithuania and had a Polish residence permit. He said he worked as a driver for a logistics company.
A pre-trial investigation has been launched. Both detainees have been remanded in custody: the Belarusian for one month and the Lithuanian for two months. They face penalties ranging from a fine to up to eight years in prison.
Lithuanian border guards do not rule out the possibility that the counterfeit cigarettes were transported from an illegal factory in Latvia.
