„We constantly strive to ensure that there are no dishonest colleagues in the service,“ says Donatas Škarnulis, acting head of VSAT. „The arrests in recent weeks confirm that intensive and targeted work to expose such officers on our own initiative and efforts is proceeding properly. Border guards tempted by illegal activities must understand that there is no place for them in VSAT and that sooner or later they will meet their end.“
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A pre-trial investigation had already been initiated at the VSAT Pagėgiai Border Unit, organized and led by a prosecutor from the 3rd Criminal Prosecution Division of the Kaunas District Prosecutor’s Office. The latest episodes of this investigation were the arrests made on Tuesday by officers from the VSAT Immunity Board, the VSAT Pagėgiai Border Unit’s Pre-trial and Criminal Intelligence Divisions.
On Tuesday morning in Alytus, a man was arrested, and shortly after, border guards detained a junior specialist from the VSAT Varėna Border Unit’s Kabeliai Border Guard Station who was off duty in the Lazdijai district.
In this pre-trial investigation, border guards had already detained 7 individuals last week. Among them were two junior specialists from the Kapčiamiestis Border Guard Station and a chief investigator from the Varėna Border Unit.
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Also on Tuesday, officers from the VSAT Immunity Board, the VSAT Varėna Border Unit’s Criminal Intelligence Division, and the Special Purpose Board “Kovas” conducted an operation in the Varėna district. During the operation, 6,000 packs of Belarusian cigarettes were found and seized. A pre-trial investigation was initiated in the Criminal Investigation Department’s Pre-trial Division of VSAT regarding illegal handling of excise goods and abuse of office. It is organized and led by a prosecutor from the 3rd Criminal Prosecution Division of the Kaunas District Prosecutor’s Office.
While conducting investigative actions, border guards detained two men in the Varėna district on Tuesday, suspected of being connected to this smuggling. Another group of border guards simultaneously detained, also in the Varėna district, a senior border guard and a junior specialist from the VSAT Varėna Border Unit’s Purvėnai Border Guard Station, suspected of involvement in the aforementioned criminal activity.
Fighting corruption is the main function of the VSAT Immunity Board. Before these arrests on Tuesday, this year, after investigations by this board’s border guards, 6 officers had already been charged with corruption-related criminal offenses. In 2025, there were 2 such cases, and in 2024, border guards exposed 5 dishonest colleagues.
