Cigarette smuggling accounts for 10.7 percent of global tobacco sales, or 600 billion cigarettes annually, according to the Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control, a group dedicated to enforcing the United Nations' international tobacco-control treaty.

The Associated Press reported July 3 that experts estimate that smuggling costs governments more than $40 billion in lost revenue each year and contribute to many tobacco-related deaths. "Smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes are sold at lower prices than legal products, contributing to higher consumption and greater rates of smoking-related illness and death," said Luk Joossens, senior policy adviser for the alliance.

"Tobacco products are the single largest illegally trafficked legal product on the planet," said Damon Moglen, vice president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The connections between smuggling and organized crime, potentially terrorism and money laundering, are vast."

North Korea is a leading producer of counterfeit cigarettes.