On September 3, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. A large consignment of cigarettes was detained in the Verkhnedvinsk district, BELTA was informed by the press group of the KGB Directorate for the Vitebsk region. As a result of coordinated professional actions by employees of the KGB Directorate for the Vitebsk region, Vitebsk customs, and servicemen of the 14th Border Guard Detachment at the Bigosovo-1 border crossing point, 140 boxes of tobacco products with Belarusian excise stamps, with a total value of about Br217 million, were discovered and seized in two semi-wagons with coal of a freight train en route to Latvia. A check is being carried out regarding the revealed offense, and the circle of persons involved in the illegal activity is being established. "This is not the first case when offenders attempt to smuggle large consignments of tobacco products across the Belarusian-Latvian border," the KGB Directorate's press group emphasized. For example, in May, through joint efforts of the KGB Directorate for the Vitebsk region and servicemen of the 14th Border Guard Detachment in the Verkhnedvinsk district near the state border, a large consignment of cigarettes was also detained: an unemployed resident of the Vitebsk region attempted to illegally transport 120 boxes of tobacco products with Belarusian excise stamps to Latvia for their subsequent sale in the Baltic countries. Goods worth Br300 million were seized. "To date, a deterioration of the crime situation in the border areas has been noted. At the same time, under the conditions of redistribution of efforts, Belarusian law enforcement structures are paying closer attention to the Belarusian-Latvian direction, taking into account the friendly policy consistently pursued by the neighboring state," the KGB Directorate emphasized. -0-

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