26 November, Vitebsk /BELTA correspondent/. Belarusian customs officers and border guards have prevented the import of smuggled cigarettes worth over Br148 million into Latvia, the Vitebsk Customs Office informed a BELTA correspondent. At the "Bigosovo-2" republican customs clearance point, customs officers, together with employees of the border service of Belarus, discovered 78 boxes containing 39 thousand packs of cigarettes during customs control of railway carriages filled with coal intended for delivery to Latvia. The packs are marked with Belarusian excise stamps. The total value of the contraband exceeded Br148 million. Shortly before that, at the "Polotsk" station in the customs clearance point of the Novopolotsk Customs Post of Vitebsk Customs, during customs control in a coal-filled carriage bound for Latvia, smuggled Belarusian-made cigarettes worth almost Br7.3 million were also found. Both batches of illegally transported goods have been seized. An investigation is underway regarding these facts.-0-

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