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Lithuania's senior police official arrested in Belarus

The head of the Vilnius mounted police was arrested for drug possession at the Belarusian border on August 16, BelaPAN reports.

Laimonas Bankauskas was apprehended by officers of the Ashmyany Customhouse and the Committee for State Security (KGB) as he was trying to cross the border into Belarus on a private visit, according to Lithuanian media outlets.

When reached by BelaPAN on Wednesday, Lithuanian Ambassador Edminas Bagdonas said with reference to the official's relatives that 45.5 grams of amphetamine had been found inside his car during an examination at the Kamenny Loh checkpoint.

The relatives claim that the drugs were planted in his automobile, the diplomat said.

The ambassador said that Mr. Bankauskas was suspected of smuggling under Article 228 of the Criminal Code.

Mr. Bankauskas is held in Hrodna's pretrial detention center and Lithuanian diplomats were expected to visit him on August 18.

A spokesman for the Committee for State Security said that the investigation of the case would be conducted by the KGB rather than the customs service.

Kestutis Lancinskas, chief of the Vilnius police, said earlier this week that he had learned of the official's arrest from the media. Mr. Bankauskas was on leave when he was arrested, he said.