Lithuania: Smuggling – Business of Belarusian Authorities. Cigarettes Packed Right at Plants

The Lithuanian National Security Committee took up Minsk's grey schemes.

The LRT publication reports that the X-ray inspection of railcars at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border has not worked since 2016. As a result, the railroad has become one of the most popular routes for smuggling Belarusian cigarettes.

Just two weeks ago, Lithuanian customs officers seized 30,500 packs of contraband cigarettes that had been hidden in one of the carriages of a freight train. It is not the only smuggling they were able to catch. However, the broken X-ray equipment makes it much harder to detect the smuggling.

"I consider it more than scandalous. I don't understand how the Lithuanian state could have let it happen. It means that our decisions open the way for criminal activity by these regimes on Lithuanian territory as well. I suspect there is a reason. It would be strange to assume that in five years, even if there were problems, they could not be solved. Apparently, someone is very interested for things to remain unsolved," said Marius Laurinavicius, an expert of the Vilnius Institute of Political Analysis.

X-ray is off - cigarettes are imported. This year's smuggling is record-high.

Every day, at least 20 freight trains cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. Smugglers know that X-rays don't work. That's the reason why two-thirds of the cigarettes exported from Belarus are delivered to Lithuania by rail. This year, the flow of smuggling has increased considerably and may become record-high.

For example, the Lithuanian State Border Service identified 17 cases of railway smuggling in four months this year, while the railwaymen find smuggled cigarettes from Belarus every other day.

"We used to find it every week, but now every second or every third day. I don't know if it's a coincidence; it seems that after those presidential elections, the Belarusian side doesn't limit smuggling anymore," said Rolandas Šlepetys.

Smuggling is a key source of income

Experts say the growth of smuggling originates from Western sanctions that have hurt Lukashka's regime, which means that the economic situation in the country is deteriorating rapidly.

According to Marius Laurinavicius, cigarette smuggling is currently a key source of income for the so-called authorities in Belarus.

"For regimes such as Lukashenka's and Putin's, smuggling is state business. The recent growth of it is not surprising. Lukashenka has faced economic problems as a result of sanctions. Obviously, he is trying to compensate for it with criminal business. Now, it's a source of income, which should compensate for other losses," he says.

Other officials in Lithuania also point it out. According to State Border Service spokesman Donatas Škarnulis, cigarettes are already being put in carriages at the factories.

"According to criminal intelligence sources, some cigarettes imported into the Republic of Lithuania are loaded at fertilizer plants. We have information that employees of these companies even tell criminals which carriage is for the supplier. They know that this carriage will go to Klaipeda. Therefore, smuggled cigarettes should be there," he said.

The article says that the National Security Committee met last week on the issue, but the details were not disclosed.