Balloons, drones, rafts – all this equipment is used to transport smuggled cigarettes from Belarus to Latvia. Criminals try to make the most of technology to ensure the goods reach the other side of the border. Attempts to smuggle contraband by hiding it in goods or in the construction of railway carriages also continue, Latvian Radio reported on December 10.
A significant increase in the number of border guards at the Eastern border, linked to the influx of illegal immigrants from Belarus, also affected the activities of smugglers. Attempts to smuggle illegal goods, mainly cigarettes, across the green border into Latvia have become less frequent, says Māris Pukinskis, Deputy Head of the Daugavpils Directorate of the State Border Guard Service.
“In the most recent case, two persons were detained and almost eight boxes were seized. The goods were found both in the vehicle and in an unoccupied house near the border. The goods were hidden under the floor,” Pukinskis continued.
Drones are used less. Usually, these are rare cases with small amounts of goods, but criminals are still actively using weather balloons.
“They are very dependent on the weather, where the wind is blowing. The balloons fly very high, you can’t see them. They are controlled by GPS equipment. In our area, there could be 15 cases. The Daugava is not used at the moment, but here again the conditions are important – the [water] level is not there, but we are ready. We have new towers on the Daugava, now the Daugava will be much more visible,” the Border Guard spokesman said.
Customs is confronted with a wider range of smuggled goods. Along with cigarettes come alcohol, petroleum products, and drugs. Nearly 22 million smuggled cigarettes have been found in the first ten months of this year. Last year, just over 7 million were seized in the same period. The main smuggling flow is by rail, says Sandra Kārkliņa-Ādmine, Deputy Director of the Customs Administration of the State Revenue Service.
“If we look at the eastern border, more cigarettes are brought in through the Indra border crossing. Cigarettes are mainly smuggled in by rail, but also in freight vehicles, cigarettes are hidden in hiding places – in the wall, in the ceiling, in the driver’s cab,” said Kārkliņa-Ādmine.
“We are still detecting cases of alcohol smuggling, we have detected and seized 2350 liters of alcohol. Compared to last year, the increase is twice. The biggest detections are at the eastern border, where we have seized 2220 liters,” said the Customs spokesperson.
Two large drug shipments have been detected on the eastern border this year.
“In total, we seized 405 kilograms of narcotic drugs that were planned to be exported to Russia via Terehova and Grebneva. [..] In one case we found 185 kilograms of hashish and in the other case 221 kilograms of hashish. In the history of customs controls, these are quite large seizures,” said Kārkliņa-Ādmine.
The Latgale Regional Directorate of the State Police said that in 2022 and 2023, 234 criminal cases were initiated under articles of the Criminal Code related to smuggling, illegal production, possession, and movement of tobacco products, alcohol and petroleum products.
