More than twenty hot air balloons, which use smugglers to carry cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania, caused problems last night in the operation of Vilnius Airport, made known by local authorities.
“Flights were interrupted at Vilnius Airport from Saturday 22:15 (local time and time in Greece) until Sunday at 04:40”Darius Bouta, a spokesman at the Crisis Management Center, told the French Agency, adding that about 30 flights were delayed, canceled or had to land elsewhere.
About 25 balloons violated the Lithuanian native area, two of which near Vilnius Airport, the spokesman said. According to Buta, eleven balloons were found this morning with cigarette packages.
Such balloons had already landed earlier this year in Lithuania, even at the airport, and by 2024 border guards have the right to dismiss them. Smugglers use meteorological balloons to carry Belarusian cigarettes and sell them to the European Union, where tobacco is more expensive.
Lithuania has recorded 966 such balloons, which entered the country last year, and 544 this year, according to Bouta. “The use of unmanned aircraft and meteorological aircraft by smugglers is considered a criminal activity, but not energy of sabotage or provocations”the official said.
Source :Skai
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