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Last week, on September 16, agents from the Criminal Customs Service (CCS) stopped three trucks and smuggled around 1,500 boxes of cigarettes on the border between Lithuania and Belarus, as well as on the border with Poland. The drivers of the three vehicles were arrested, as were four customs officers from the Raigardas roadside post.
The detainees are suspected of participating in a cleverly devised scheme, when smuggling trucks entered Lithuania uncontrollably by exchanging car registration numbers and documents.
After a lengthy operation, MKT officials revealed a large-scale smuggling scheme in Lithuania, which was suspected of involving not only smugglers but also customs officials.
During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday (September 16), three trucks arrived from Belarus one after another at the Raigardas road post of the Vilnius territorial customs. One of them was driven by Belarusian citizens and the other two by Polish citizens. Two of the machines (DAF tractors) were almost identical and were reported to carry loads of metal and cast iron.
MKT officials suspect that to disguise the illegal cigarettes transported on the semi-trailer of one of the trucks, a scheme was created where the mandatory inspection of trucks was changed by changing the registration numbers of machines in the postal area. It is suspected that the documents and registration numbers of the tugboats were exchanged (which were attached with special magnetic supports, that is, clearly prepared for a quick exchange).
All three trucks, with the help of SBGS officials, were stopped and inspected. One of them found contraband Belarusian cigarettes “NZ Black slim” and “Minsk super slims”. According to preliminary data, around 1,500 boxes of smuggled cigarettes have been seized, whose value, with taxes to be paid, could reach around 2.5 million. euros.
A pre-trial investigation into smuggling was launched at the Kaunas branch of the MKT, not only the three truck drivers were arrested, but also four customs officials from the Raigardas roadside post, suspected of complicity in smuggling and abuse of service. The preliminary investigation is led by the Kaunas Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
On Wednesday (September 16), the three drivers were arrested for three months by decision of the Kaunas District Court. Two of the customs agents arrested on September 18. They were detained by the same court for a month and the other two were held in preventive detention with a written commitment not to leave.
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