‘[Excise taxes] discourages smoking… [that] may once have been true in Australia, but it is not now. Rates of smoking are not falling.’

That rationale is as ridiculous as the oft said comment that the death penalty has no deterrent effect. Extremely high taxes, or swinging from a rope, never encourages people to indulge or break the law, but there will always be some people who will be deterred. It is just that the government proscribed harm may be a lot less of a deterrence than first thought.
Perhaps the excessive taxes on tobacco keeps the smoking rate at a level that is lower than it would naturally be without the tax.

‘Profits from tobacco smuggling are funding these other activities, including human trafficking. According to the US Department of State, traffickers are denying nearly 25 million people "their fundamental right to freedom, forcing them to live enslaved and toil for their exploiter's profit."’

If human trafficking is a profit-making enterprise in it’s own right, why do you need tobacco smuggling profits to finance it? Is it so the Mister Bigs can add slavery to their résumé to enhance their evil reputation?