Customs officers dismantled a drug smuggling network – eight Vilnius residents were arrested, shipments of drugs were intercepted

During the investigation led by the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office, eight residents of the capital were arrested, dozens of searches were conducted, and 35 shipments with more than 34 kg of drugs – cannabis and cocaine – were seized.

Drugs were mainly distributed in Vilnius, and several groups of individuals were operating, coordinating their actions with each other.

Authorities say they have encountered a new generation of criminals who treat their actions as a business, but not as a very serious crime. For drug smuggling in large quantities, suspects face imprisonment from 10 to 18 years.

This research was started back in 2023. in May, when MKT Narcotics Control Division officials recorded a sudden increase in drug smuggling shipments from the United States. In previous years, the amount of postal shipments with drugs from this region was insignificant (counted in units), and last year it already made up a larger part – 40 percent. of all shipments.

In response to the situation, the MKT officers launched an investigation, during which they exposed a network of quack smugglers. Several groups of individuals, coordinating their actions, shipped and (mainly in Vilnius) distributed drugs in large quantities.

The investigation was complicated because the drug smugglers had kept any physical contact to a minimum. He communicated with the senders on the so-called dark internet (darknet), paid with cryptocurrency, and created special closed channels for distribution on the Telegram social network.

Postal items containing drugs were picked up at postal machines. Drugs are distributed in Vilnius and its surroundings, in a wide variety of places (e.g. recorded attempts to deliver narcotics to prisons). Usually, the drugs were hidden somewhere, after which the buyers were given the coordinates of the hiding places. In order to make it easier for buyers to find fakes, these places were sometimes marked with spray paint by painting special conventional graffiti marks.

Additives (mostly cannabis packed in 2-2.5 kg packages) were intended for the domestic black market of Lithuania, where this American cannabis is considered a better quality “product”: the “street price” of 1 g of ordinary cannabis is around 10 euros, while American cannabis is sold for 20-30 euros per gram.

The pre-trial investigation is conducted in accordance with Article 259 of the Criminal Code. (illegal possession of narcotic or psychotropic substances), Art. 260 (illegal possession of narcotic or psychotropic substances with the intention of distribution or in large or very large quantities), Art. 260-1 (Smuggling of narcotic or psychotropic substances).

During the investigation, the officers conducted dozens of searches in Vilnius and Kaunas, various evidences were found, and 8 suspects were arrested, all of them residents of Vilnius. Four of them are currently under arrest, the rest were released after being given pre-trial measures – a written promise not to leave, periodic registration at the police station.

The black market value of the drugs seized during the investigation is around 900,000. euros.

The officers of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau (LKPB) and the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) assisted the customs forensic officers.

Last year, MKT officers detained a total of 569 kg of drugs in Lithuania and started 96 pre-trial investigations into drug smuggling.

The largest number of investigations (84) have been initiated regarding junk mail or couriers. Most drugs are sent to Lithuania from the Netherlands, Germany and the USA.

The biggest seizure of drug smuggling last year took place on October 20, when officers found 26 barrels with 482 kg of mephedrone in the premises of a company in Vilnius. It is a synthetic stimulant drug similar in its effects to cocaine, amphetamine or cathinone. The value of such a shipment of junk on the black market exceeds 70 million. euros.