Border guard spokeswoman Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz said that officers from the border guard post in Kuźnica, northeast Poland, detained two Polish nationals in possession of a package containing illegal cigarettes that had been delivered via weather balloon.

She added that the suspects had attempted to flee and were found with 1,500 packs of illegal cigarettes worth close to 24,500 zlotys (€5,700).

On the same day, border guards in the nearby village of Nowy Dwór found another similar package containing illicit cigarettes worth over 23,000 zlotys (€5,300), as well as the remains of a weather balloon fitted with a tracker.

Additional balloons were found with packages of cigarettes valued at a combined 67,000 zlotys (€15,600).

Authorities detained another two people last Thursday after a balloon containing 1,000 packs of cigarettes was found near the northeastern village of Wiżajny.

Cigarette smugglers are reportedly looking for new ways to move contraband across the Poland-Belarus border due to enhanced security measures put in place by authorities, including a steel barrier and thermal imaging.