On May 4, 2023, in Krāslava Municipality, State Border Guard officials in cooperation with State Police officials stopped the illegal movement of tobacco products.
On Thursday, suspicious persons were noticed near a farmstead in the forest. Upon checking the information, an abandoned VW Bora car was found in the forest. A dog handler of the State Border Guard with a service dog was called to the scene. While inspecting the footpath on the bank of the Daugava River in the vicinity of Ūdrīši Parish, three packages (wrapped in black polyethylene film) were detected.
The State Police was informed about the possible illegal movement and storage of goods.
During an inspection of the package together with State Police officials, it was established that it contained 30 000 "NZ GOLD" cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps.
The seized cigarettes were handed over to the State Police officials. Criminal proceedings were initiated regarding the abovementioned fact in accordance with Section 221 (1) of the Criminal Law (regarding smuggling of tobacco products).