Last October, D. K., a resident of the Šalčininkai district who collected cigarettes flown in by balloons from Belarus, heard the court verdict. The Vilnius Regional District Court, after examining the criminal case, found D. K. (born in 1993) guilty of smuggling and illegal handling of excise goods in an organized group.
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The court, consolidating the remaining unpaid fine with a previous court verdict, imposed a final fine of 20,000 euros on the convicted person. The convicted person was also subjected to a criminal penalty – a sum of money equivalent to the value of the confiscated car in favor of the state – 880 euros. The Vilnius Regional District Court fully satisfied the civil claim of the plaintiff AB “Lietuvos oro uostai” and awarded D. K. 22,108 euros to compensate for the company’s material damage.
According to the case data, on the night of October 21 to 22, 2025, D. K., acting in an organized group with persons located in the territory of Belarus, according to a pre-agreed criminal plan, went to a forest massif in the village of Pajuodžiai in the Vilnius district to collect cigarettes flown in by balloons from Belarus.
D. K. was detained by officers of the State Border Guard Service while carrying 1,500 packs of “NZ Gold” cigarettes with excise stamps of the Republic of Belarus, brought by balloons through smuggling, to load into a “VW Passat” car. The total value of the seized cigarettes with mandatory taxes amounted to 7,755 euros.
The court found that the data collected during the pre-trial investigation proved that D. K., previously convicted for smuggling, acting in an organized group, transported goods that must be declared to customs across the state border of the Republic of Lithuania, the value of which exceeds 150 MGL, and also, violating the established procedure, acquired and transported excise goods. Such intentional actions of the convicted person disrupted the operation of the airport.
In its civil claim, AB “Lietuvos oro uostai” stated that on the night of October 21 to 22, air traffic was suspended for more than 8 hours due to the threat posed by balloons; during this period, 25 flights were canceled, 9 flights were redirected to other airports, 20 flights were delayed, affecting 6,992 passengers. The company suffered a loss of 22,108 euros due to the criminal actions of the convicted person and other members of the organized group.
By court decision, D. K. will have to compensate AB “Lietuvos oro uostai” for the material damage incurred and pay annual interest of 5 percent on this awarded amount, calculated from the date the verdict becomes final until full compensation of the damage.
The pre-trial investigation was organized and the public prosecution was maintained by the prosecutor of the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office; the investigation was carried out by officers of the State Border Guard Service.
This first-instance court verdict can be appealed.
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