US EditionBalloon Threat Evolves: F-22 Raptor Shootdown a Chinese Spy Balloon, NATO Now Grapples With Cigarette-Laden Balloons Over Its Eastern Flank
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Balloon Threat Evolves: F-22 Raptor Shootdown a Chinese Spy Balloon, NATO Now Grapples With Cigarette-Laden Balloons Over Its Eastern Flank
NATO is grappling with an unusual but increasingly disruptive challenge along its eastern border: balloons filled with helium or hydrogen drifting in from Belarus into the airspace of Lithuania and Poland. At first glance, the objects appear almost farcical—low-tech, slow-moving, and carrying no explosives or weapons. Instead, they are typically laden with bundles of cigarettes, smuggled across borders where tobacco prices are sharply lower in B…
Cigarettes are being smuggled from Belarus into Poland using weather balloons. In January 2026 alone, Border Guard officers seized approximately 1.75 million cigarettes without Polish excise stamps, the Border Guard announced on February 2nd. The value of the seized goods was estimated at approximately PLN 1.78 million. The anti-smuggling operation is being conducted by the Border Guard in cooperation with the Operational Command of the Branches…
The Border Guard foiled an unusual smuggling operation from Belarus, in which smugglers used weather balloons. The value of the seized goods was estimated at approximately 1.78 million PLN.
Two Belarusian citizens were detained by the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit in connection with the discovery of contraband smuggled using weather balloons, according to a Monday announcement from the Border Guard. In January alone, the Polish Border Guard seized approximately 1.75 million cigarettes without Polish excise stamps, with a value estimated at PLN 1.78 million.
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