According to regional police authorities in north-eastern Poland - a border area with Belarus - the balloons were found overnight in the city of Białystok and in a nearby rural area of Sokółka County.
In a public warning issued on Saturday via social media, emergency services urged residents not to approach or touch any suspicious packages or balloons, and to immediately call Poland’s emergency number, 112.
The local daily Kurier Poranny reports that Polish authorities have been combating cigarette smuggling using balloons launched from Belarus for some time.
Balloons carrying loads of untaxed cigarettes have previously been found in various parts of north-eastern Poland.
A police spokesperson, Junior Aspirant Konrad Karwacki, told the newspaper that on Friday officers from a police public order unit in Białystok located the remains of one smuggling balloon that had become entangled in a tree in the city centre, near Włókiennicza Street.
A package containing around 1,500 packets of cigarettes without Polish excise stamps was found on the ground nearby.
Later the same night, police recorded a second incident in the village of Wierzchłowce, in Sokółka County.
That package contained 150 cartons of cigarettes, also lacking Polish tax markings, the newspaper said.
Poland has long struggled with cross-border cigarette smuggling, particularly along its eastern frontier with Belarus, where tobacco products are significantly cheaper.
(mp)
Source: X/@podlaskaPolicja/Kurier Poranny
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