The balloons used to pass cigarettes closed Vilnius airport

Balloons carrying thousands of packets of cigarettes disrupted flights to Lithuania, as Vilnius airport was forced to close for hours when dozens floated in the country’s airspace.

The National Crisis Management Center (NCMC) told the BBC that 25 meteorological balls had been detected entering the Lithuania of neighboring Belarus, two of which found themselves directly above the airport.

The airport said that the closure had led to 30 flight cancellations affecting 6,000 passengers. He warned that there could still be delays on Monday.

The “airspace violations” intervene at a time of increased tension in Europe after a number of drone incursions, suspected of being linked to Russia, caused a disruption of air traffic.

Moscow denied any involvement in recent incidents.

Up to 14 of the meteorological balloons launched over the weekend have floated above the Vilnius region, which houses the Lithuania capital and near the border with Bélarus, Lithuanian officials said.

At least 11 balloons carrying 18,000 packets of cigarettes on the black market have since been recovered, although this number could increase, said the service of the State Guard of Lithuania.

Despite the disruptions they caused, a spokesperson for the NCMC said: “Balloons with smuggling – Bélarus cigarettes – are nothing new in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.”

Until now this year, 544 balloons have been recorded entering the Lithuania of Belarus, he said, while 966 were last year.

Meanwhile, the Northeast Podlaskie region in Poland, which also borders the Bélarus, recorded more than 100 cases in which smuggling was transported by its neighbor using the balloons, which are generally used to transport meteorological instruments at high altitudes.

In one case, last month, Polish police owned a Belarusian citizen whose car had surrounded smuggling cigarettes in the use of a ball. A geolocation label would have been found on his phone related to illicit goods.

When asked why criminals use a method very sensitive to weather, rather than much more controllable drones, the NCMC spokesperson said: “Weather balloons are a rudimentary tool used by smugglers – they are cheaper than drones to transport cigarettes from Bélarus.”

He added: “The objective of our services is to seize the most important quantities of smuggling and to hold the organizers and the authors so that this activity is not profitable and does not present any risk for civil aviation.”

Drons of unclear origin caused the closure of Danish airports and airspace in September. Drons have also been seen in Norway and neighboring Germany, which prompted European leaders to accelerate discussions on the strengthening of aerial defenses.

Denmark said at the time that there was no evidence suggesting a Russian participation, despite Moscow’s blame for anterior airspace in Poland, Estonia and Romania.

Russia denied these previous incursions or said that they were accidental while its large -scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine continues.