A balloon carrying smuggled cigarettes was discovered at a construction site in Podlaskie, leading to the arrest of a Belarusian man.
Balloons with contraband cigarettes
A balloon with two transmitters and a foil-wrapped package was found at a construction site in Bielsk County on Saturday. Police were called, and the package was found to contain 1,500 packs of cigarettes without Polish tax stamps. A security worker reported seeing a suspicious car near the site.
If the cigarettes had reached the market, the state would have lost 45,000 złoty in unpaid taxes.
40-year-old man in custody
Police stopped the car indicated by the security worker, driven by a 40-year-old Belarusian man. Officers found a “pin” in his phone indicating the location of the contraband. The man was also found to have child pornography on his device and was arrested.
Similar incident in Szudziałowo
On the same day, a similar incident occurred in Szudziałowo, where a balloon with a package landed on a property. When police arrived, a Renault driver suddenly reversed and was stopped for inspection. The car carried two Belarusian citizens, aged 55 and 22, who were charged and handed over to border guards with a request for deportation.
The package contained approximately 1,400 packs of cigarettes.
