Inside Belarus' Cigarette Contraband Network Causing a European Security Crisis

In Lithuania, the world’s cheapest cargo has become the world’s strangest threat. Balloons worth a few euros are shutting down airports and testing the West’s response to hybrid warfare.

The first wave came on October 5. Around two dozen helium balloons, each carrying cigarette bundles, floated west across Lithuania’s border with Belarus. Their flight paths were dictated by wind alone, yet their timing was disruptive: mid-morning, when Vilnius Airport was busiest.

Each was equipped with a rudimentary GPS tracker, intended to guide recovery teams on the Lithuanian side to the landing sites, where packages of well-known Belarusian cigarette brands would be waiting. But the armada drifted directly into the controlled airspace of the international airport, forcing a total shutdown that lasted for several hours.

Source: Lithuanian police handouts.