In the Chernivtsi region, border guards exposed a smuggling deal and detained a Bukovinian man who was transporting cigarettes with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles.

That night, border guards of the Chernivtsi detachment found half a thousand packs of tobacco products without excise stamps, packaged in six small packages, two unmanned aerial vehicles, 33 batteries for them and a Volkswagen car, from which the drones were launched and which served as a “base” for the deal.

The air smuggler was detected due to the rapid interaction between the operational units of the border detachment and the servicemen of the Krasnoilsk department of the Chernivtsi detachment.

Implementing advance information and tracking the flight of one of the aircraft on its sound, border guards succeeded in getting to the place of takeoff and landing of the drone. At the same time, the response group of the Krasnoilsk department went on alert and began searching for offenders. Five kilometers before the state border, the military found a truck with a foreign registration and one person without documents. According to the man, he was a citizen of Ukraine. Also, two unmanned aerial vehicles were found near the vehicle, and in the car itself, means of navigation and control of the means of smuggling were found. At the same time, excise-free goods and a box with batteries for aircraft were found nearby.

Currently, a resident of Chernivtsi, along with the car, the small aircraft and cigarettes, was taken to the border unit. He will be handed over to the National Police. The man has been brought to administrative responsibility by border guards.