In August last year Azghar Hussein Ahmed was behind the counter of Euro Food in Narborough Road, Leicester, when an undercover volunteer with a tiny camera attached to a bag entered and bought a packet of Marlborough.
Ahmed charged him £5 for the cigarettes, which would normally cost about £9 in the UK.
The cigarettes had no health warning and had foreign writing on the packet.
Ahmed (30), of Gaddesby Avenue, Braunstone, Leicester, was prosecuted by Leicester City Council for breaching safety regulations.
A court hearing was held at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday but Ahmed did not attend.
Prosecutor Hannah Price said: "Mr Ahmed was sent a letter explaining the test purchase had been done and inviting him in. Mr Ahmed did attend the interview, which was conducted under caution. He stated he had taken over the shop one-and-a-half months prior to the undercover operation. He went on to deny he had sold the tobacco."
The magistrates' ruled that the case had been proved in Ahmed's absence.
Miss Price said the shop's previous owner had also been prosecuted for selling illegal tobacco without the proper health warnings. She said: "The illicit tobacco trade in Leicester is at an all time high."
Ahmed was ordered to pay the £6,000 fine as well as £339 court costs and a £60 victim charge.
