Lithuania arrests 21 in alleged cigarette smuggling ring using weather balloons from Belarus

Authorities in Lithuania said on Tuesday they had arrested 21 people allegedly connected to a criminal network that smuggled cigarettes using specially equipped weather balloons from Russia-allied Belarus which have violated the Baltic country's airspace in recent weeks.

Investigators conducted more than 80 searches, seizing cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps, SIM cards, communication and tracking signal jammers and firearms, the Lithuanian general prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Luxury cars and valuable property were also confiscated.

Tuesday's operation involved more than 140 officers from the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, Vilnius police and special anti-terrorism units.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement the alleged network was "characterised by a very strict conspiracy and distribution of roles, cigarette smuggling was carried out systematically, in a coordinated manner, under strict control of its organizers (leaders) and their trustees."

The prosecutors allege that "the organisers may have had direct contacts with accomplices operating in the Republic of Belarus, from where, under favourable weather conditions, balloons with smuggled cigarettes were launched."

"Using tracking (GPS) equipment and appropriate programs, the movement of the balloons was monitored, and the exact coordinates of their landing in Lithuania were transmitted to the executors," prosecutors said.

"After collecting the contraband, the latter had to deliver it to pre-agreed points or hand it over to other persons involved in the crimes."

The Lithuanian authorities said that all 21 suspects would face charges of participating in a criminal organization, illegal handling and smuggling of excise goods and aiding another state in acting against Lithuania.

Earlier this month, Lithuania declared a national emergency over security risks posed by the meteorological balloons sent from Belarus.

The balloons forced Lithuania to repeatedly shut down its main airport in the capital Vilnius, stranding thousands of people, and led to the temporary closure of two land border crossings with Belarus.

Belarus’ President Aliaksandr Lukashenka slammed the border closures as a "mad scam" and part of a "hybrid war" against his country.

Europe as a whole is now on high alert after drone flyovers into NATO airspace reached an unprecedented scale in September, prompting European leaders to agree to develop a "drone wall" along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe's airspace.

In November, NATO military officials said a new US anti-drone system had been deployed to the alliance’s eastern flank.

And following a violation of Polish airspace, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the formation of the Eastern Sentry programme, which aims to deter further Russian incursions.

Some European officials described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against potential threats from Russia.

The Kremlin has dismissed allegations that Russia is behind some of the unidentified drone flights in Europe as "unfounded."