In 1988 the state set limits on the quantities of untaxed cigarettes that wholesalers could sell to stores on Indian reservations.

The operation was part of a crackdown on sales of untaxed cigarettes in the city and state, the spokesman, Joseph Green, said.

During the 1950s, Burke was involved in various illegal activities, such as distributing untaxed cigarettes and liquor.

And illegal sales of untaxed cigarettes, run by criminal gangs, are not uncommon.

Meanwhile, reservation vendors say it is legal for anyone, Indian or not, to buy their untaxed cigarettes in limited amounts for personal use.

By restoring earning power to the community, untaxed cigarettes have breathed fresh life into a threatened Indian culture.

If the system works as planned, the supply of untaxed cigarettes available for purchase by non-Indians will dry up.

He said there is also an increasing problem with untaxed cigarettes being smuggled from Indian reservations.

People smuggling is still a small-scale phenomenon next to the illegal importation of untaxed cigarettes a few years ago.

Washington is imposing a $10-a-pack penalty on untaxed cigarettes.