Фото: Straż Graniczna
Border guards from the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit in Poland have carried out an operation against smugglers who transport cigarettes from Belarus using weather balloons. Eight people were detained as a result.
Those detained include four Polish citizens aged between 20 and 44 and four Lithuanian citizens aged between 30 and 34. A court ordered the pretrial detention for three months of three Lithuanian citizens and one Polish citizen. The remaining Polish suspects were released under police supervision. Following court proceedings, the four Lithuanian nationals were expelled from Poland and banned from entering the country for five years.
The detainees were charged with cigarette smuggling, as well as violations of the law on special measures to counter support for aggression against Ukraine and to protect national security.
Since the beginning of the year, 16 people involved in the aerial smuggling of cigarettes have been detained. Earlier reports also mentioned the detention of Belarusian citizens. Tobacco products worth more than 2.8 million zlotys (approximately 790,000 US dollars) have been seized.