Lithuania airport shut over cigarette-smuggling balloons

Lithuania’s main airport shut down overnight due to over 25 weather balloons that disrupted airspace. The balloons, found to be transporting smuggled cigarettes from Belarus, delayed flights for hours and impacted around 6,000 passengers.

Security alerts in Europe have risen recently due to drone incidents near various airports. Lithuania, which shares a 42-mile border with Belarus, declared a 60-mile no-fly zone after previous drone violations, including one carrying explosives.

National crisis management representative Darius Buta reported flights at Vilnius airport were disrupted from 10:15 PM to 4:40 AM. Authorities discovered 11 balloons carrying 18,000 packs of cigarettes, highlighting ongoing smuggling issues.