Event 776

{
  "border_violation_countries": [
    "Poland",
    "Belarus",
    "PL",
    "BY",
    "Air"
  ],
  "border_violation_modes": [
    "Land"
  ],
  "category": "Border",
  "confidence": "Low",
  "confidence_rationale": "Information is corroborated by direct citations from border officials, photographic evidence, and quantitative incident data provided in the article.",
  "countries": [
    "Poland",
    "Belarus"
  ],
  "country": "Poland",
  "defense_prep": {},
  "description": "Cigarette smugglers along the Poland-Belarus border have turned to using balloons to transport contraband, circumventing increased border security and fencing efforts.",
  "event_time_utc": "2025-02-24T12:00:00Z",
  "evidence": [
    "Article headline and summary: Cigarette smugglers turn to balloons amid Poland-Belarus border clampdown",
    "Photographs of intercepted balloons and contraband packages",
    "Statistics from Polish border guards: about 2,000 such incidents in recent months"
  ],
  "evidence_quotes": [
    "Cigarette smugglers along the Poland-Belarus border have increasingly turned to using unconventional means — in particular floating packages over the border with balloons.",
    "In the last few months, border authorities dealt with around 2,000 such cases, with police noting that in the Biała Podlaska area in eastern Poland, each balloon typically carried around 3,000 pieces of cigarettes, landed on the Polish side.",
    "Previously, most cigarette smuggling across the land border between Poland and Belarus involved large groups of couriers carrying contraband under cover of night through forests and fields; now, authorities are discovering more floating packages."
  ],
  "evidence_urls": [
    "https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/02/24/cigarette-smugglers-turn-to-balloons-amid-poland-belarus-border-clampdown/"
  ],
  "extra": {
    "category_raw": "Border Balloon Smuggling",
    "extra": {
      "extra": {
        "extra": {
          "evidence": [
            "Article headline and summary: Cigarette smugglers turn to balloons amid Poland-Belarus border clampdown",
            "Photographs of intercepted balloons and contraband packages",
            "Statistics from Polish border guards: about 2,000 such incidents in recent months"
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "follow_up_by_country": [],
  "headline": "Cigarette smugglers turn to balloons amid Poland-Belarus border clampdown",
  "location_text": "Poland-Belarus border",
  "media_assets": [
    {
      "description": "Screenshot capture",
      "type": "screenshot",
      "url": "/media/event_776_1763938044_3beb8801.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "notes": "Cigarette smuggling method shift at ??PL-??BY border",
  "schema_version": "v1",
  "screenshot_count": 1,
  "sources": [
    "https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/02/24/cigarette-smugglers-turn-to-balloons-amid-poland-belarus-border-clampdown/"
  ],
  "summary_short": "Smugglers have adopted balloons to move cigarettes across the Poland-Belarus border, evading newly reinforced border controls.",
  "url": "https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/02/24/cigarette-smugglers-turn-to-balloons-amid-poland-belarus-border-clampdown/"
}

{
  "5th Column of Russians Inside (which countries)": "",
  "Attack Type": "Border balloon smuggling",
  "Borders Including Sea, Air,  Violation or Sabotage (which countries)": "PL BY Air",
  "Continuous? (e.g. Jammers)": "",
  "Country (FI;EE;LV;LT;PL;BSR;Air)\nSeparated by Semicolon": "PL",
  "Date": "24-Feb-25",
  "Defense Prep Event (FI-EE-LV-LT-PL)": "",
  "Defense Prep Event (FI-EE-LV-LT-PL) REF LINK": "",
  "Follow-Up Link?  (FI,EE,LV,LT,PL, BSR, Air)": "",
  "Follow-Up NOTES": "",
  "Follow-Up incl. Investigation, Prosecution?  (FI,EE,LV,LT,PL, BSR, Air)": "",
  "Latitude, Longitude (WGS84, Decimal Degrees)": "",
  "NOTES": "Cigarette smuggling method shift at ??PL-??BY border",
  "Political Disruptions w/ Laws to Favor Kremlin (which countries)": "",
  "Russian-Belarus Terrorist Event (FI-EE-LV-LT-PL)": "Smugglers use balloons over ??BY-??PL border",
  "Russian-Belarus Terrorist Event (FI-EE-LV-LT-PL) REF LINK": "https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/02/24/cigarette-smugglers-turn-to-balloons-amid-poland-belarus-border-clampdown/",
  "Screen Snapshot": "",
  "Screen Snapshots": "",
  "Type Dropdown": "",
  "Where?\n(Air, Land, Sea)": ""
}