Woke up with a thought this morning, and the pieces came together. Outsourcing of jobs, consumer culture, third-world countries and the shipping industry. Never could figure out how it was cheaper to produce in those third world counties and ship around the world. Cheap labor was the excuse, but it doesn't work so well when it comes to sophisticated tasks. My guess is that it is not really cheaper.
The container ships only need a few containers full of people/drugs to 'pay the freight'. All the goods are used as cover. Managing the production of goods allows the foreign nationals the ability to scout the terrain for the real commodities (people/drugs).
Producing locally prevents the need for the infrastructure needed for global trafficking.