The MTA said border crossers have in general become more law-abiding since the full checks were put in place, but the situation remains a concern.

Ursula Riimaa, the MTA's deputy director general told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "We are seeing every day that goods in demand on the other side of the border are still being smuggled across the border."

"Right now, in the Narva context, a major concern remains cash, given we've seen the highest number of violation attempts related to this. There has also been a significant amount of car and machinery spare parts being taken across, as well as drone components, tech that could be used for dual purposes, cameras, and various radio communication devices," Riimaa went on.

Over 1,500 people cross the border daily at Narva.

The transition to full customs checks began there a month ago.

Also, since the start of September, all outbound travelers' luggage has been subject to inspections.

Whereas previously, MTA officers identified an average of 22 violations per day, since the full inspections began, that number has fallen, albeit slightly, to 18 violations a day, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

On the Thursday afternoon the "Aktuaalne kaamera" team was at the Narva border, around 400 people were waiting in line at the checkpoint.

Since February, the checkpoint has been closed to private vehicles and can only be crossed in buses and on foot, even then only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

This means crossing is not a quick affair.

Border crossers get estimated wait times based on the Narva sign marker – from the "N" marker, it takes about seven hours to reach the actual border checkpoint, though natural wait times are influenced by the volume of people crossing, MTA procedures, and the capacity constraints.

Arnold Vaino, a document checker at the Narva border crossing told "Aktuaalne kaamera" that crossings are "definitely slower" thanks to the policy of checking individual bags.

"If, say, seven buses arrive at once, each carrying 50 passengers, as buses are typically full, we can calculate how many people are suddenly added to the queue," said.

"We can't send that many people to customs all at the same time, as it's physically impossible to process them that quickly in the space available," he added.

The Narva border crossing operates 16 hours per day, allowing between 1,500 and 1,700 people to cross into Russia during that time.

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