Smugglers carrying contraband fruit secretly repaired and expanded roads into Russia from Belarus

Russian border guards near Smolensk reported this week that smugglers secretly repaired and expanded roads near the Belarusian border, in order to make it easier to bring in contraband food.

According to representatives of Russia's border control, officials discovered heavy equipment used to repair roads that bypass guarded checkpoints. The machines were used to widen existing roads, making it possible for larger vehicles to pass. The roads were then used to smuggle in Western food products banned in Russia as part of the Kremlin's “counter-sanctions” over the annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine.

According to federal agents, the road is now under police control. Earlier this month, Russia's Federal Security Service says it apprehended a whole convoy of nine semi-trucks carrying 175 tons of apples, peaches, plums, and cherries worth roughly 13 million rubles (about $200,000).

So far this year, border police in the Smolensk area have checked more than 73,000 vehicles entering Russia from Belarus.