I've reached level 30 now, and I've still yet to ever encounter a smuggler. I visit many varied locations throughout Ur pretty frequently, including Ix, but no smugglers.
Thanks to the 'noob mistake' thread, I recently found out that there was some sort of "Back Alley" solution to the Get Your Papers quest that I missed out on a long time ago. Is it it possible the smuggling missions require you to have done that quest?
Also, I've never had the opportunity to do that rook egg-smashing quest. I think I heard somewhere that the quest was disabled though. Anyone know more on this?