In the 70s rich South American and Mexican criminals would fly by private jet to the Colón Free Trade Zone (Panama) to buy luxury goods and buy/sell both drugs and weapons.
It IS the smart way to do business because those CIA people were up to their own things in that US EDZ and the arrests almost didn't happen.
I have a feeling that their is a certain amount of quid pro quo between the murkier elements of governments and organized crime in these zones. YES they are big, but still small enough for a criminal gang to quite efficiently spot a black operation and leverage their knowledge to ensure that they in turn aren't hassled.
Of course, given how much drugs are worth in Australia and given that their is a totally legal precursor just 2 simple steps from oxymorphone (generally regarded as x5 diamorphine in potency and more euphoric), one could QUITE LEGALLY import them and then export... something... and claim it was THAT precursor.
As a rule, NOTHING leaving Australia by ship is ever checked at the Australian end. What would be the point?
But that done, that precursor would yield a product worth about $4000 (AU)/gram. I'm just surprised that it hasn't happened yet. The ABF is GOOD, but Australia is truly vast - how on earth would you FIND a lab in the outback?