Cigarette-Smuggling Balloons Force Shutdown at Lithuania’s Main Airport
In this undated photo released by the State Border Guard Service, an officer inspects a balloon used to carry cigarettes into Lithuania. (State Border Guard Service via AP)
Flights at Lithuania’s busiest airport were disrupted over the weekend after dozens of balloons carrying black-market cigarettes drifted in from neighbouring Belarus.
Lithuanian authorities said 25 balloons — commonly used for meteorological monitoring — were detected on Sunday. Two of them floated over Vilnius Airport, forcing the cancellation of about 30 flights and affecting roughly 6,000 passengers, the BBC reported. Most inbound flights were rerouted; one jet even turned back and returned to Copenhagen, Reuters said. Airport officials warned that some delays could continue into Monday.
So far, the State Border Guard has recovered 11 balloons that together contained about 18,000 packs of contraband cigarettes. The National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) said balloon smuggling is not new: 544 such devices have entered Lithuanian airspace so far this year, following nearly 1,000 incidents in 2024.
Poland’s Podlaskie region, which borders Belarus, has seen similar activity, with authorities reporting more than 100 attempted balloon smuggling incidents. Officials say smugglers favour balloons over drones because they are cheaper, even though balloons are less controllable and more dependent on weather. An NCMC spokesperson said the priority is to intercept as much illicit cargo as possible and make the trade unprofitable.
About Post Author
