Smuggling drone carrying Belarusian cigarettes found near Poland’s eastern border

A drone packed with contraband cigarettes bearing Belarusian excise stamps has been discovered near the village of Krynki in eastern Poland, close to the Belarusian border, Polish border guards have confirmed.

Polish border guards said a drone loaded with Belarusian-duty cigarettes was found near Krynki in eastern Poland on 5 November.

Photo courtesy of the Podlaski Border Guard/X/@podlaski_sg

The unmanned aircraft was intercepted on 5 November carrying around 400 packs of cigarettes, marking another instance of smugglers using drones to bypass fortified border defences.

Dron wypełniony nielegalnymi papierosami ujawniono dziś w gminie Krynki. W jego środku znajdowało się około 400 paczek papierosów z białoruską akcyzą. pic.twitter.com/oTqJ07t4sE

— Podlaski Oddział SG (@podlaski_sg) November 5, 2025

According to local station Radio Białystok, citing Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, spokesperson for the Podlaski Branch of the Polish Border Guard, reinforced barriers and surveillance systems along the Polish–Belarusian frontier have forced smugglers to adopt increasingly creative methods for trafficking illegal tobacco products.

Since the beginning of 2025, the Podlaski Border Guard has recorded 118 cases of cigarette smuggling using weather balloons and 18 incidents involving drones.

So far this year, 29 individuals have been detained in connection with cross-border smuggling operations, according to official data.

(mp)

Source: Radio Białystok/X/@podlaski_sg