Kaliningrad customs officers stopped an attempt to move 6,500 packs of Belarusian cigarettes without excise stamps into Lithuania by weather balloon. Source: FCS Russia.
Late at night, two Russian nationals drove into woodland right by the border. They checked the forecast, wind direction and atmospheric pressure, then packed the tobacco into cardboard boxes fitted with GPS trackers to follow the landing site. The idea was that the wind would carry the illegal load across free of charge.
Customs disrupted the scheme: the men were detained, and officers found balloons ready for launch plus a minibus carrying gas cylinders to inflate them.
The boxes held 3,500 packs; another 3,000 were seized in a shed at one suspect’s home. Experts valued the whole consignment at nearly RUB 1 million.
The pair admitted that, had the first flight succeeded, they planned to keep smuggling cigarettes the same way.
A criminal case was opened under Article 30(3) and Article 226.1(2)(v) of the Russian Criminal Code (attempted illegal movement of strategically important goods across the customs border by a group acting by prior conspiracy). The maximum penalty is up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to RUB 1 million.
