The Beijing authorities have asked for British help in closing down the fake manufacturers whose bootleg cigarettes contain poisons and dangerous levels of arsenic.

The target for the British teams will be the crime rings who operate thousands of makeshift factories in remote mountainous regions, which produce 190 billion cigarettes a year. Investigators estimate a third of cigarettes smoked in Britain today are counterfeit — with 80 per cent of them now made in China.

The initiative coincides with the world’s first global anti-smoking treaty coming into force. Britain is among 57 countries to ratify the pact which wants to ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and to outlaw smoking in public places. The Government’s plans to ban smoking in pubs by 2008 are set to be watered down after the election with Labour ministers admitting that they are ready to allow “smokers’ rooms” in places where food is not served.

The United Nations-sponsored treaty requires countries to put tougher health warnings on packets, curb smuggling and increase taxes. It is feared a price rise will only encourage more smokers to buy counterfeit cigarettes.

Health experts say that the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control needs strengthening if it is to be effective in cutting the five million who die each year from smoking. China, Russia and the US are among countries yet to ratify the pact, which the World Health Organisation claims will reduce deaths from tobacco-related illnesses that claim one smoker every 6.5 seconds.

Health experts in China say that the counterfeit cigarettes contain six times as much lead than legal ones, 160 per cent more tar, 80 per cent more nicotine and dangerously high levels of arsenic.

Faced with growing international pressure the Chinese Government is clamping down. Local security forces posing as wedding guests, medical teams and even beggars have shut down more than 2,800 of these clandestine bases in recent months but admit thousands more have begun operations.

The cigarettes are crudely made with floor sweepings, sawdust and a toxic mix of chemicals but counterfeiters expertly copy the packs used by the leading brands to dupe shops, pubs and the public. The fake packs even carry the health warning.

One customs source said: “We know retailers sell counterfeits thinking they have come from the European market but this stuff is lethal. Smokers soon realise this is not a pack of 20 smuggled across the Channel by booze cruisers. They are cheap and plentiful in supply so if we seize a container load, there will be another on some dockside by the following day”.

While customs agents have successfully disrupted the tobacco trade smuggled in from Europe, they are losing the battle to combat the Chinese counterfeit gangs who are becoming increasingly ruthless to protect their illicit trade. Britain is a key target because taxes of around £3.70 on a packet of 20 are among the highest in the world. The counterfeit packs sell here for less than half the price of legitimate brands. The Treasury estimates it is losing £1.9 billion a year in duty from smuggled cigarettes.

Agents believe the Chinese cigarette barons operate some of the same smuggling routes used to ship drugs and illegal immigrants, knowing the penalties for the fake tobacco trade are far more lenient than for other traffickers. Last year in Luton, two Chinese gang bosses who smuggled millions of fake cigarettes into Britain and admitted evading £1.5 million in tax were jailed for 4½ years. Their lieutenants got less.

The extraordinary profits being made are tempting some heroin gangs to switch to smuggling packs of 20 as the risks are negligible.

Undercover teams will be sent into the inhospitable terrain bordering Fujian and Guangdong provinces. The counterfeit-busting deal to deploy more British officers was signed by Gordon Brown during his trip to China last week where he was briefed on the increasing scale of the tobacco barons. Both Customs and Treasury officials have welcomed the increased co-operation with the Chinese, which will include intelligence sharing, and helping the local law enforcement agencies with sophisticated technology. Security forces arrested nearly 4,000 suspects from January to November last year and 1,139 were jailed for their part in the bootleg trade.

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