Smuggled Cigarettes via Hot Air Balloons Force Vilnius Airport Shutdown, Stranding 6,000 Passengers

NEED TO KNOW An airport in Lithuania shut down after authorities received reports of a series of hot air balloons intercepting its airspace

About 30 flights and almost 6,000 passengers were impacted

Local authorities later found the balloons carried at least 18,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes

A series of up to 25 small hot air balloons carrying thousands of smuggled cigarettes forced an airport to shut down over the weekend, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

On the late evening of Saturday, Oct. 4, Vilnius Airport in Lithuania’s capital city closed after authorities received reports of hot air balloons flying in the direction of the airport. According to a statement from the airport on Oct. 6, the delays impacted around 30 flights and almost 6,000 passengers.

Vilnius Airport in Lithuania. Getty

Darius Buta, a spokesperson for Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center (NCMC), told the AP two balloons flew above Vilnius Airport while more than two dozen reached Vilnius County. The flights took place between 8:45 p.m. local time Saturday and 4:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Buta.

According to the AP, Border Police recovered 11 balloons and 18,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes in various locations.

This isn’t an uncommon practice, according to Buta. Vilnius is located about 25 miles west of the Belarus border and smugglers from the country tend to use balloons to transport contraband into the European Union.

This year, there have been 544 recorded hot-air balloons entering from Belarus intercepted by Lithuanian authorities. Last year, there were 966.

“Meteorological balloons are a rudimentary tool used by smugglers — they are cheaper than drones for transporting cigarettes from Belarus,” a NCMC spokesperson told the BBC.

They added: “Our services’ aim is to seize the largest possible quantities of contraband and to detain organizers and perpetrators so that this activity is unprofitable and does not pose a risk to civil aviation.”

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"Balloons with contraband cargo - cigarettes from Belarus - are nothing new in Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland,” they said.

According to the BBC, last month, Polish police detained a Belarusian citizen who was facilitating cigarettes that were smuggled in using balloons. Police found they were using a geolocation tag on his phone linked to the illegal goods.

Neither a representative for NCMC nor Vilnius Airport immediately responded to PEOPLE's request for comment.

[SRC] https://people.com/hot-air-balloons-used-to-smuggle-cigarettes-shut-down-airport-11824819