The customs officers did not allow the export procedure for cars allegedly transported to Belarus, the value of which is more than 200 thousand. euros. Officials suspect that these machines would later be transported and registered in Russia, to which the European Union has been since 2014. imposes sanctions on the export of passenger cars.
Lithuanian customs has tightened the control of the export of luxury passenger cars to third countries. Still in 2023 during the conducted investigation, officials found that almost every second luxury car (worth 50 thousand euros and more) exported from the European Union to third countries (Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, etc.) later entered the Russian market.
The Vilnius branch of the Customs Criminal Service (MKT) has launched a pre-trial investigation into smuggling and violation of international sanctions. The pre-trial investigation is led by the prosecutors of the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office.
Both cars are detained and stored in the premises of the Lithuanian customs office. The persons driving the machines were released after questioning.
In carrying out this detention, the Lithuanian customs cooperates with the US institutions that supervise international sanctions.
Tags: Customs officials seized Tesla Cybertruck electric cars investigation sanctions violation smuggling launched
