Lithuanian modeller drone made from foam and plywood .
The aircraft had a wingspan of 4 meters, was equipped with a motor and a GPS-navigator and radio control. Load capacity - 10 kg.
The estimated cost of such a machine - about $ 8,000 . Disassembled drone in the minibus brought across the border from Lithuania to Russia.
On Russian territory to the airplane attached box with 50 cartons of cigarettes and sent to Lithuania. At this stage of the campaign creative smugglers international Russian - Lithuanian group and was foiled by vigilant border guards.
Experts have long anticipated expanding the range of delivery vehicles due to smuggling of aeronautical vehicles. Although most of them predicted the emergence of more conventional devices of this kind : balloons or trikes . Makeshift drone came as a surprise.
Comments
ahhhaaaaa! HobbyKing should be sued for supplying equipment to cigarettes smugglers!
Every pic these days shows HK batteries.
Yeah, and Russia has some serious border length
Smuggling with drones a surprise? I'm sure everyone here have thought how this will change drug, diamonds, ivory etc. No risk and massive reward.
I guess cigarettes are more expensive in European Union than in Russia.
As my father used to say when I was in school: "Learn son, learn". and I did. Simple math would result in following: Plane cost: $1000-2000, 30 cartons of cheapest cigarettes (10 kg) $349.5 or 255 Eur or 12,000 Rubles or 883 Lt in Russia.
A pack of Marlboro in Lithuania 9-10 Lt or 2.5 Eur or $4 - $1200 or 878 Eur or 3,033 Lt for a load.
One flight would bring $850.5 or 622 Eur or 2,150 Lt
You'd have to make 10 trips to barely even-up the price of the equipment, trips and other expenses. At the same time, one would break many laws and Siberia is huge where one would have to spend many happy years cutting trees if caught.
I am not sure how much cigarettes are in Siberia.
Excellent.
The plane must have been tail heavy judging from that 200x300x5mm steel plates holding the wheel X-D
Probably a test flight before flying over the border with something a bit more potent that tobacco
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