Polotsk border guards prevented an attempt to smuggle a large batch of tobacco products into Latvia

On the night of October 2nd, operational officers of the Polotsk Border Guard Detachment, together with officers of the Polotsk District Department of Internal Affairs, Novopolotsk City Department of Internal Affairs, the State Automobile Inspectorate for Polotsk, Novopolotsk and Polotsk District, the State Automobile Inspectorate of Verkhnedvinsk District and the Verkhnedvinsk District Department of Internal Affairs, prevented an attempt to smuggle a large batch of tobacco products to the Republic of Latvia using railway transport.

During the verification of available information about the possible illegal movement of tobacco products from Belarus to Latvia, a cargo railway train traveling from Polotsk to Daugavpils was inspected. As a result of the train inspection, signs of tobacco products being present in one of the carriages were detected. During the follow-up on the received information, it was established that the tobacco products had been dropped from the said train near Verkhnedvinsk. As a result of a survey of the area along the railway track, a citizen of the Republic of Belarus, born in 1980, a resident of Polotsk, was detained. He was carrying 2 boxes of cigarettes on foot, which, according to him, he found abandoned and appropriated for personal consumption. A Volkswagen Golf car was also found, in which a presumed gas revolver and 1 unit of a weapon of an unspecified model were discovered based on external signs. This citizen was taken to the police for further proceedings.

During a further survey of the aforementioned area, 23 abandoned boxes of cigarettes were discovered. The tobacco products have been transferred to the Tax and Duties Inspectorate.

An administrative process has been initiated.

The estimated value of the detained goods and materials, their quantity, and the organizers of the cigarette smuggling are being established.