Baltic States – CIS, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Transport

SRS Customs Criminal Board Deputy Chairman Eriks Zalenieks expressed an opinion that the seizure of these machine components is much more important than the discovered freight of contraband cigarettes, reports LETA.

As reported, in Latgale Province on July 24, the SRS halted a truck, which, according to the related documents, was supposed to be carrying construction materials. The inspection found 10.2 million contraband cigarettes inside the truck.

Inside the truck, the SRS also discovered some appliances that, they presumed, were meant for cigarette production, however, after a closer examination, it was established that these machine components are likely to be meant for the production of Russian military aircraft MIG 29.

The machine components were put inside three plywood boxes, together with a number of small cardboard boxes containing industrial parts, such as control devices, microcircuits, radar devices etc.

Currently, the SRS have sent the machine components for examination by competent institutions.

After receiving a complete written expertise conclusion, a second criminal case will be separated from the cigarette smuggling case – for carrying smuggled goods of strategic importance in a group.

In accordance with the Criminal Law's Article 1901, Part 2, the applicable sentence of the mentioned article is the deprivation of liberty for a term of 5 to 12 years.