Last weekend, searches were conducted in Latvia for a smuggled balloon that may have drifted in from Belarus. The signal that such a flying object was moving towards Latvia was received by our services from colleagues in Lithuania. Interestingly, searches were conducted not only in the border zone but also in the Limbaži region, located 250 kilometers from the border, reports TV3 News.
Information about what exactly happened in the airspace of Latvia last weekend remains scarce. The National Armed Forces confirm that they indeed received data about an object that may have crossed the Latvian border.
"Data about a possible flying object was received from the Lithuanian police; the visually presumed object was not detected. Latvia's sensors did not confirm its presence. The National Armed Forces are closely cooperating with the internal affairs services to record any violations," the NAF commented.
The State Police also confirms in writing that on Sunday, information was received from neighbors that a meteorological probe may have entered Latvian airspace. The police began searching for it. Moreover, not only in the border area with Belarus — law enforcement confirms that searches were also conducted in the Limbaži region, approximately 250 kilometers from the eastern border of Latvia.
"In accordance with cooperation mechanisms with partners, this information was verified and immediately passed on to the crews of the State Police, who surveyed the area, including in the Limbaži region. However, the State Police did not receive visual confirmation of the received information, and the object was not found," said State Police representative Simona Gravīte.
The police do not explain why searches were conducted so far from the border and whether this means there were suspicions that the balloon could have crossed the entire territory of the country. Attempts to smuggle illegal cigarettes from the Belarusian side using meteorological probes have been regularly recorded over the past six months; however, as far as is known, such balloons have previously only reached as far as Rēzekne.
The State Police reported that 23 criminal proceedings have already been initiated regarding the detection of balloons with smuggled cigarettes on the territory of Latvia. There are detained individuals in these cases. One criminal case has already been forwarded for prosecution.
