Balloons ferrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus caused Lithuania’s main airport to grind to a halt.

As many as 4,000 passengers and 30 flights have been affected after the incident at Vilnius Airport late last night.

More than a dozen incoming flights were diverted to other airports inside the country,while another 10 were cancelled.

Despite the airport reopening this morning,delays are continuing to persist and passengers have been warned that the schedule for the rest of the day may be affected.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas,head of the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) revealed that the balloons were launched from multiple locations in neighbouring Belarus as part of a coordinated operation.

He told LRT Radio earlier this morning: ‘The intensity and number of balloon launches were very high,and most likely this was not from a single point – it was a coordinated operation.’

The balloons have been found in five areas – Lazdijai,Druskininkai,Varėna,Šalčininkai and Vilnius,according to Vitkauskas.

A statement from the NCMC earlier confirmed the incident,saying: ‘Operations have been disrupted due to the weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus.’

This is the second time this month that the airport was shut down due to an incident involving contraband from neighbouring Belarus.

On October 5,large helium balloons carrying contraband cigarettes also led to flight cancellations and delays.

At the time a total of 25 balloons were detected including two flying above Vilnius airport,the NCMC said.

Seven of these had been recovered by authorities and were found packed with 12,000 packs of cigarettes.

Belarus has been under scrutiny for years over its distribution of counterfeit cigarettes.

Since the Baltic nations and Poland tightened border controls with Belarus amid the war in Ukraine,the flow of contraband to the European Union has decreased from 2.1 billion to 1.5 billion cigarettes,according to the latest estimates available for 2023.

Yet Belarus is still the absolute leader in the supply of ‘white’ cigarettes – those smuggled and sold under their own brands to European countries.