If the cigarette smoke is coming into your house, your house and furnishings will smell like cigarettes too. You said after speaking to the owner that the smell miraculously disappeared. It normally won't disappear, it lingers until you clean it. Is it the smoke you smell or the dirty ashtrays and butt bucket? My husband use to smoke, only in our detached garage. You could smell (only if you were not a smoker, smokers don't smell it) the residue from the cigarettes on all the paperwork kept out there, there was a yellow film on all surfaces, 1 convertible that was stored in 1 of the back garages had to have the convertible top and upholstery professionally cleaned. We had to clean and repaint all surfaces, all paper had to be left in a covered plastic tub with open cannisters of baking soda to get rid of the smell. I just got a cardboard box down from the attic and you can still faintly smell cigarettes. He quit about 5 years ago. We did all the clean up after he was quit for a while and he could smell it and it bothered him. He asked me how I could stand the smell. He said it was like sitting in the middle of a dirty ash tray. Smokers don't realize about the smell until they stop. Sorry, I'm no help in how the smell is getting into your home.
I am also surprised that you have a bare block wall. In my area of the U.S., the walls have a vapor barrier and sheetrock over the block walls.