Alcohol smugglers try new tricks on Latvia-Russia border

RIGA (AFP) – Latvian and Russian border guards have discovered a kilometre-long (0.6 mile) tube used by contraband dealers to smuggle alcohol into the Baltic country, Latvian border officials told AFP.

The pipe was found to contain 200 litres of alcohol, and is the first such device to be uncovered in the region, a border police spokesman said.

Around half the tube was located in Latvia, while the other half stretched across into Russian territory.

Russian border guards seized two tons of spirit in a house on the Russian side of the border, arresting one person.