Riga, Nov 24 (LETA) - Several weather balloons with smuggled cigarettes from Belarus were detected in Latvia on Sunday, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) told commercial TV3 television.

He explained that in Latvia's case, unlike in Lithuania, it does not pose a serious threat to critical infrastructure, as there is no airport near the border, but the weight of the cargo of illegal cigarettes could cause localized damage.

Since yesterday and until this morning, Latvian internal affairs services have managed to intercept seven balloons carrying contraband arriving from Belarus. Each of these balloons contains on average around 60,000 illegal cigarettes. "The work is still ongoing and the volumes are being clarified, but this phenomenon exists," Kozlovskis said.

The minister called on citizens who see such balloons at the border not to wait for them to land or try to shoot them down, but to report them to the authorities so that the crime can be prevented safely and effectively, preventing smuggled goods from entering the illegal Latvian market.

Kozlovskis added that the Latvian internal affairs services work in close cooperation with their Lithuanian and Polish counterparts, and there have also been several experience-sharing meetings on how to counter this phenomenon.

As reported, weather balloons with smuggled cigarettes have been detected in Latvia in the past. On October 7, a weather balloon with 30,000 cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps was detected in the Kraslava region. On October 3, a balloon with 28,760 Belarusian cigarettes was detected by law enforcement officers in the Augsdaugava municipality on the Belarusian border.

On September 8, border guards detected two weather balloons with 60,000 Belarusian cigarettes in the Augsdaugava municipality. Also in May, border guards detected a balloon with smuggled cigarettes in Ludza municipality.

In recent months, weather balloons with smuggled cigarettes arriving from Belarus have caused serious problems at Lithuanian airports. The threat to civil aviation posed by these balloons has forced the closure of Vilnius airport on several occasions.

In the absence of any willingness on the part of Minsk to address the situation, Lithuania decided at the end of October to close the remaining two border checkpoints with Belarus for a month, but on Wednesday the Lithuanian government decided to open the Medininkai and Salcininkai border checkpoints ahead of the originally planned deadline.