CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland police and health officials caught five merchants in a sting Wednesday targeting shops that break open packs of cigarettes and sell them one at a time.

The practice of selling "looseys" is commonplace in the city but it is illegal. Police and health department workers hit 13 shops. Clerks in seven of the stores would not sell looseys to undercover agents. One official said he thinks word of the operation spread quicker than cigarette smoke in a crowded room.

City Health Director Matt Carroll said the single sale of cigarettes is one of the main reasons that young people start smoking. Part of the reason for the operation was to discourage young people from smoking by making it more expensive.

Officials will conduct more stings monthly in different parts of the city.

Merchants break open a pack of cigarettes -- the popular $5.32 a pack Maverick brand for example -- and sell looseys for 50 cents to a $1.

The merchants can get $10 or $20 off of a pack of cigarettes that way without paying extra taxes. It's a fourth-degree misdemeanor in Cleveland, punishable by a fine starting at $100. It's also a violation of state and federal law to sell anything less than a full pack of cigarettes.

Assad Nader, owner of the 1 Stop Market, 3744 E. 144th St., seemed shocked when police cited him for selling cigarettes to undercover agents.

"What? You're kidding," he said. "Every store in the city sells them this way. My customers have no money. They can't afford a pack of cigarettes. We're in a recession man."

Nader, who said he has run the store for 25 years, told police that 90 percent of his customers buy looseys.

"Come on, this is crazy," he said. "But could you also mention I have a sale going on 40-ounce beers?"

Other stores where citations were issued were: the Cedar Deli, 3750 E. 140th St.; the Times Square Food Market, 3832 Martin Luther King Blvd.; the Miles Mini-Mart, 11334 Miles Ave. and the Harvard Marathon, 4025 E. 93rd St.