In the early 1990s, there was a surge in tobacco smuggling. I studied criminology, and I remember that a major awareness campaign was launched to help people understand that if they were caught smuggling or carrying smuggled products in their vehicles, the products would be seized. The purpose of that measure was to dissuade people from carrying three or four cartons or even whole boxes full of cigarettes for resale. The point was to hurt the organization. There were severe penalties in place, to make it perhaps more difficult to recruit people.
If smugglers or others engaged in smuggling are brought before the courts on summary conviction, doesn't that send a message that it's no more serious than a fine for going through a red light or speeding? Since that is not necessarily a criminal act, don't we trivialize the fact that tobacco smuggling is wrong?