Most of the World States are increasingly looking to heavy taxes on cigarettes as a way to raise revenues and discourage smoking. But officials said that jacking up cigarette prices could lead to more secret market sales.

In New York, lawmakers are considering that raising tobacco taxes again will give more worthwhile for bargain-hunting smokers.

More problematic are contrabandists who ship counterfeit cigarettes into the state via container ship from China or ship cheap cigarettes illegally into New York from low-tax states like Virginia. In New York, tobacconists buy cartons and cartons of tax-free smokes on Indian reservations and sell them elsewhere.

The Internet also is a huge source of cheap cigarettes, even though states have cracked down on buyers who don't pay taxes on online purchases. Law enforcement officials worry that the widening price spread between taxed and untaxed cigarettes will only make the situation worse.

Experts said that higher cigarettes prices will inevitably lead to more underground purchases and sales, and also will reduce the states income.

World Health Organization worry that cigarette smuggling will help spread organized crime from urban areas to high-tax states across the country.

"You'd have to be crazy to go and buy cigarettes at the store at almost $9 per pack," said Arthur Katz, executive director of the New York State Association of Wholesale Marketers and Distributors.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has stepped up enforcement against tobacco smuggling, and credit-card companies and shipping companies have agreed to take steps to prevent shipments of cigarettes from Internet retailers. Some lawmakers have proposed increasing penalties for cigarette smuggling and illicit sales.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said he does not understand why New York officials have not cracked down on individuals who buy cheap cigarettes at Indian reservations and then resell them illegally.

Congress is considering bills that would increase the penalties for smuggling, bar the shipment of cigarettes through the mail, and require all tobacco products to carry a high-tech federal tax stamp that would enable law enforcement officials to spot counterfeits and identify packages that have illegally crossed state lines.