West Africa becoming drug hub

[dArKeR]

Lax law enforcement, a strategic location and an inexhaustible supply of couriers have made west Africa an emerging transit point for South American and homegrown cartels shipping drugs to Europe and beyond, say UN officials.
By building up a web of offshore drop sites and willing mules, both the Latin American cartels and smaller west African criminal networks have smuggled millions of dollars in cocaine, cannabis and heroin through the region over the last decade, the UN Office of Drug Control (UNODC) said in a new report.

"The role of the locals, in most cases, is very limited except for allowing the cartels to locate facilities and logistic bases in west Africa," Antonio Mazitelli, west and central Africa director for UNODC, told reporters.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/08/02/2003266102

Could it also have anything to do with American bases with CIA, FBI, DEA, military moving in and out not going through standard customs?