The meteorological probes with smuggled cigarettes that flew into Latvian territory were first noticed by the National Armed Forces (NAF).
From Sunday evening to Monday morning, the radar systems of the National Armed Forces (NAF) detected several aerial objects that, at different intervals, crossed the Latvian-Belarusian border and entered Latvian airspace, the Ministry of the Interior informed the LETA agency.
Immediately after receiving the information, the State Border Guard, together with the State Police, began operational actions in the border regions of Latvia, conducting territory checks, patrolling, and searching for objects.
Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis noted that critical infrastructure is not threatened; however, this is one of the methods for smuggling illegal cigarettes into Latvia. One such probe can transport between 60,000 and 120,000 cigarettes, and to date, eight meteorological probes with more than 720,000 illegal cigarettes have been intercepted. Services continue to work actively, so the data may change throughout the day.
The State Border Guard and the Police urge residents to report such objects by calling 112. People are warned not to approach such objects and to avoid attempting to land them themselves.
Meteorological balloons with smuggled cigarettes have been discovered in Latvia before. For instance, on October 7, in the Kraslava region, one of the probes contained 30,000 cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps, and on October 3, in the Augšdaugava region near the border with Belarus, law enforcement found a probe with 28,760 Belarusian cigarettes.
On September 8, two balloons with 60,000 Belarusian cigarettes were intercepted in the same region. In May, border guards also discovered a balloon with smuggled cigarettes in the Ludza region.
In recent months, meteorological balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus have created serious disruptions for the operations of Lithuanian airports. Due to threats to civil aviation, Vilnius Airport had to be closed several times.
