Smuggling on the Lithuania-Belarus border: Beneficiaries in Vilnius uniforms and offices

We finally reveal who is truly behind the long-standing smuggling surge on the Lithuania-Belarus border.

NEWS.BY has repeatedly reported: the scale of smuggling directly depends on how 'effectively' the very security agencies tasked with stopping it actually operate.

Belarusian authorities act strictly and professionally. However, without real cooperation from the Lithuanian side, it is impossible to fully stop organized criminal groups, especially tobacco smugglers.

Month after month, post after post, we have called on Lithuanian border guards, customs officials, and the entire Vilnius regime to sit down at the negotiating table and start joint anti-smuggling efforts.

And the answer was simple.

Colleagues from ONT have put an end to this story. It turns out the Lithuanian side stubbornly refused cooperation for a very simple reason.

The ultimate beneficiaries of this entire smuggling scheme were the Lithuanian border guards themselves, Interior Ministry employees, and even high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and security services.

It turns out we’ve been appealing to reason and partnership… with the very leaders of these criminal gangs.

Now we’re even a bit embarrassed.