EU, Lithuania Raid Logistics Firm Suspected of Breaching Russia Export Controls
EU and Lithuanian authorities last month raided a logistics business suspected of illegally exporting items to Russia and Belarus, seizing more than $1.7 million worth of goods from the company. The items allegedly were made in EU countries before the company rerouted them through Central Asian countries to circumvent EU sanctions, the European Anti-Fraud Office and the Lithuanian Customs Criminal Service said.
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The governments seized “significant quantities of potentially sanctioned commodities, large sums of money and weapons” from the business, the EU said. “Preliminary findings also suggest the company may have facilitated similar operations for other firms.”
The bloc said the investigation is ongoing, and that the anti-fraud office is working with other authorities both inside and outside the EU “to verify the export routes and trace the final destination of the goods. The intelligence gathered will support other EU Member States in discovering potential new illicit trade flows of sanctioned goods.”