On Tuesday, October 7, in cooperation with State Police officials, border guards detected a balloon with contraband cigarettes in Krāslava Municipality.
While carrying out their duties, a border guard shift, in cooperation with State Police officials in Aglona Parish, detected a rectangular object wrapped in black polyethylene film, attached to a meteorological balloon. Upon inspecting the package, it was found that it contained 30 000 "NZ Gold" cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps.
State Police officials initiated criminal proceedings under Section 221(3) of the Criminal Law for the illegal movement of tobacco products committed on a significant scale.
It was previously reported that over the past weekend, on October 3, border guards in Augšdaugava Municipality also detected a balloon with contraband cigarettes – 28 760 "Queen Super Slims" cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps.