She works as a spy.

The police pick her up after school, wire her with a recording devise and send her to retail stores to buy cigarettes. If the vendor sells her a tobacco product, the investigator issues a citation to the retailer after she leaves the store. For this she gets $5 per store visit.

Jaqi, whose last name is concealed to protect her identity, is one of the 182 teen undercover investigators in central and northern California working for the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act program.

The program, coordinated through the American Lung Association, aims to reduce illegal sales of tobacco to people under age 18. It recruits teenagers ages 14 to 16 to investigate how easily available tobacco products are to the minors.

"We look for teenagers who have good communication skills, know basic math, and respond to situations quickly," says Erin O'Roak, administrative assistant of the STAKE program.

A teen secret agent works with two officers from the California Department of Health Service, Food and Drug Branch. While one investigator stays in the van to monitor the purchase electronically, the other walks into the store ahead of the teen investigator and stays there until the transaction is done.

Since the program began in December of 1995, 14,702 compliance checks have been conducted. About 27 percent of the visits resulted in illegal sales of tobacco to minors. The total amount of collected fines has exceeded $1 million.

Jaqi's mother found out about the STAKE program last year when she looked for a part-time job for Jaqi.

The sophomore was recruited after a short interview with the lung association. So far, she has conducted undercover operations for three days. Each day, she visited 20 stores.

A dozen of these stores fell into the trap because some clerks didn't ask for her ID. Some did but still sold her cigarettes even after she showed them her driver's license.

"Sometimes I feel bad because I don't want to get people in trouble," Jaqi says.

Her family members have reacted differently to her undercover work. While her parents feel proud to have a secret agent daughter, her older brother, Sergio, cautioned her not to go to those local shops where he can buy cigarettes easily.

Sergio started smoking at age 16. Although he is now 18 and can finally buy tobacco legally, he has cut down on smoking because he wants to be a firefighter.

"I am not a habitual smoker," he says. "But to have better lung capacity, I have to smoke less and get in shape."

For more information contact Emmanuel Torres at 559.226.5348 or http://www.stakeact.com.