Officials of the State Revenue Service (VID) Customs Administration, while carrying out customs control on Latvia’s border with Belarus, in cooperation with colleagues from the Tax and Customs Police Department, prevented the smuggling of 3,502,000 cigarettes. The cigarettes had been hidden in sealed metal buckets, under sawdust that had been poured into them in place of the declared goods – hand-washing agents. The cargo contained a total of 175,100 packs of cigarettes of various brands.
On 27 November 2025, a vehicle registered in Kazakhstan entered the Pāternieki customs control point from the Belarusian side. Based on the results of risk analysis, it was directed for inspection using a cargo control X-ray device. When analyzing the images, customs officials became suspicious that cigarettes were hidden in the metal buckets.
Customs officials at the Pāternieki CCP initiated an in-depth control and carried out a partial unloading of the cargo. Upon opening some of the buckets and checking their contents, it was found that the declared goods had been replaced with sawdust, and smuggled cigarettes were hidden underneath. Since signs of a criminal offense were established during customs control, the case materials were handed over to the VID Tax and Customs Police Department.
After fully completing the cargo control, a total of 3 502 000 cigarettes were seized, that is, 175 100 packs of cigarettes “NZ Gold”, “Queen Menthol” and “Minsk Superslims” bearing excise duty stamps of the Republic of Belarus. The amount of unpaid taxes to the state budget for such a quantity of cigarettes exceeds 895 000 euros.
Regarding the identified criminal offense, criminal proceedings were initiated at the VID Tax and Customs Police Department under the indications of the criminal offense provided for in Section 190, third paragraph, of the Criminal Law, concerning large-scale smuggling.
At present, pre-trial investigation is continuing in the criminal proceedings, and in the interests of the investigation no further information is being provided.
In accordance with Section 19 of the Criminal Procedure Law, no person shall be considered guilty until their guilt in committing a criminal offense has been established in the procedure laid down in the Criminal Procedure Law.
Originally published at https://inc-baltics.com/uz-baltkrievijas-robezas-atklaj-35-miljonus-kontrabandas-cigaresu/
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