the practical situation is tragic, I donot have an opinion on what to do, but looking at the origins:
those who said “kids make mistakes” will be ight presuming parents/teachers/community did their part instilling the right values. Were they taught halakhos of honesty and business to the same degree as shabbos and kashrus? wih pictures, tests, illustrations, rishonim, shouting, pointing possible aveiros, kicking out of school those who do not comply, ec?
As said above, if people think smuggling something “innocent” “for the family” is OK, then they are prime candidates to be ewxploited for a more serious crime. This is done by mifia, KGB, etc – compromise a person with a honeypot or unpaid taxes and then you can force him to do other things.