How does the whole smuggling thing work?
And whats the contraband thingie?

When you enter a town, check the Trading Book in the menu and it will tell you what is contraband... That means that it is illegal to sell or buy in that town. Then, if you have that material, go to the tavern and talk with a guy about selling them and he will tell you where to meet him...

dont even try smuggling unless you have a good luck rating becasue even if you meet up with the smugglers and trade, you will be caught by military personel from whatever island your trading on. Your luck rating improves your ability to trasde without being caught. i managed to hire and officer with a luck rating of 7 so if i smuggle, and get aught i can load a saved game, try the trade a again and woon't get caught. (if i do, ill just try again - it's time consuming but paprika is so friggin' light, yet vauluable, that you can carry and trade a profit of over 10,000 per transaction usually.)

If you want to fight the soldiers then your reputation will plummet, but hey if your maming such a profit, you can always redeem your self... I love the caribbean church's...