VILNIUS - Lithuanian police have detained two Belarusian citizens who allegedly tried to smuggle radioactive material from Lithuania into Belarus. "Two men bearing Belarus passports were detained on the evening of April 22 when they tried to cross the Lithuanian-Belarusian border," Aleksandras Juozapaitis, spokesman for Vilnius prosecutor's office, told The Baltic Times on April 24.
"Their car was thoroughly searched and a metal container with the inscription 'uranium' written in Russian was found in a hiding place," Juozapaitis added.
He refused to give the names or ages of the two men, stating that the investigation was still ongoing.
"It could be that those two were just carriers," Juozapaitis said.
But he did reveal that the pair were detained as a result of a long-term international operation involving Lithuanian and Belarus officials.
Juozapaitis could not confirm whether the box had in fact contained anything radioactive.
"The box is designed to carry radioactive materials, but only the experts can say whether it was uranium or not," Juozapaitis said, adding that the contents of the box will be investigated by specialists from the Lithuanian Physics Institute.
He also said that the Vilnius court has authorized the detention of the Belarusians for one month.
