Cigarette shipments worth over Br70 million were seized in the Braslav district.

May 21, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Over the past four days, servicemen of the Polotsk border guard detachment in the Braslav district have seized contraband cigarette shipments worth more than Br70 million, the assistant head of the Polotsk border guard detachment, Denis Glebko, told a BELTA correspondent. During routine operational search activities, an attempt to smuggle more than 20,000 packs of cigarettes into the European Union was prevented. Smugglers typically packed the cargo in waterproof bags and left it for couriers in close proximity to the state border. Investigations are underway regarding these incidents. As Denis Glebko noted, with the onset of warm weather, the activities of smugglers have intensified. Groups serving directly on the border have been reinforced with cadets from the Border Guard Service Institute to prevent attempts at illegal border crossings and contraband smuggling. -0-