Packing counterfeit cigarettes grew dangerous once authorities started attacking the industry, and arrest is not the only risk counterfeiters run.

Most illicit factories retreated to the woods and mountain caves. Some operators took extra steps: In February, police found that counterfeiters had dug down and built factories and storage spaces underground.

"Counterfeiters transfer packing workers at night by bus and send them back before dawn," said Wu Jinhui, a Yunxiao county official. "Most factories hide in the hills, so many people break their legs or arms while climbing to secret factories at night. They can't risk using flashlights that would be spotted by patrolling police."

The provincial anti-counterfeit department once sent more than 110 inspectors to Yunxiao. The squad, as usual, set out before dawn.

"When we thrust into the woods, more than 30 local farmers ran out of five bamboo work sheds, carrying bags of tobacco on their shoulders," officer Chen Shishun wrote on the department's website in May 2008. "We caught two of them, and the rest threw the tobacco away to run faster, but still many people were not willing to abandon their source of revenue.

"A man scrambled down a steep slope and fled, with a tobacco bag that was bigger than his body. He was lucky he didn't get hurt on the rugged mountain route."