Health bosses have now risen and conglomerated with police, trading standards and customs and excise staff to tackle contraband cigarette bootleggers who are putting lives at risk for a quick profit.

The recent figures reflect a steep rise in the sales of cigarettes hitting a four-year high record. Each day last year, 6.7 million were lit up, making for 2.44 billion cigarettes sold through the year.

It revealed to show a 12 per cent rise over 2008 figures of 2.17 billion sold; in 2005, the figure was 2.09 billion.

In addition, regional figures have revealed 33% of teenagers and a 20% of adults buy illegal tobacco, while 64 per cent of smokers admit cheap prices lured them to continue.

The fact that more Singaporeans are smoking is one factor driving the trend: The Health Promotion Board's (HPB) National Health Surveillance Survey in 2007 - the most recent poll of the smoking rate among people here - found 13.6 per cent of the 7,000 people surveyed were smokers in 2007, up from 12.6 per cent in 2004.

Tobacco companies reveal that the soaring number of foreigners - the more than one million students and holders of work permits and employment passes here, has fuelled the rise in cigarette consumption.

The North of England Tackling Illicit Tobacco for Better Health programme is initiating a noble effort to bring organisations together, with an aim to target the trade by using shared intelligence and new technology.