Balloons used to smuggle cigarettes shut Lithuanian airport

The incredible scale of the illicit trade in tobacco products has been demonstrated again by the disruption to flights at Vilnius airport, leading to its closure for several hours, in this recent article published by several international news agencies, including the BBC.

 Criminals employ meteorological balloons to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus to neighbouring countries, including Lithuania and Poland. So far this year, 544 balloons have been recorded entering Lithuania from Belarus, with up to 14 balloons launched over one weekend in October floating across the border into Lithuania. The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service recovered at least 11 balloons carrying 18.000 packs of black-market cigarettes.

 In addition to the dangers posed to aircraft, forcing the closure of Vilnius airport for several hours and the cancellation of 30 flights, illicit trade in tobacco products poses significant dangers to consumers and governments:

1. consumers are directly harmed by illicit trade, both financially and physically. Products acquired through illicit channels are often substandard, unregulated, and potentially dangerous, especially when health warnings and manufacturing standards are ignored. Counterfeit tobacco is frequently produced in unsanitary and unregulated conditions

2. the financial impact of illicit trade on governments is severe. Illicit tobacco circumvents taxation entirely, depriving governments of significant excise revenues. For example, counterfeit and contraband products, estimated to make up 18% of all illicit tobacco trade, result in substantial fiscal losses

3. the illicit trade in tobacco products is controlled by organised criminal gangs and the revenues they earn from these activities lead to the increased dangers to society

The Duty Free World Council fully supports all efforts to eliminate Illicit trade and encourages authorities to devote time and resources to crack down on the significant contributors to illicit trade in tobacco products by closing down illicit production facilities and this type of cross border smuggling by criminal gangs.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r0ezjzwpno