Drug smuggling into the United States from South America poses a significant national security threat. Financial gains from smuggling provide drug cartels with funds to increase drug production and weapons purchases, exacerbating violence on the Mexican border and in the United States. Illegal drug entry into the United States involves land, air, and sea trafficking activities. Maritime smuggling from Mexico or the Caribbean into the United States are critical ports of entry requiring additional resources. These activities include the use of containers, fishing boats, low profile vessels, fast vessels and narcotic submarines (both fully and semi-submersible). Some ships are designed to hint at surveillance through the use of camouflage paint while others feature a low radar cross section to avoid detection. A recent U.S. Coast Guard report states that “each year, the Coast Guard intercepts more than three times the amount of cocaine seized at our borders and within the United States combined. It is believed that 90% of cocaine brought into the United States includes sea travel during the smuggling process. Despite the large quantities seized, the Coast Guard is only able to disrupt about 20 percent of drug trafficking due to limited resources. As a result, there is a need for a long-term, cost-effective surveillance capability that takes advantage of available technology and resources. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A joint program of the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, and Drug Enforcement Agency should be directed by the White House to improve current maritime drug trafficking surveillance and detection methods. Hydrophones are an underwater microphone that can be used as part of a system to identify vessels based on their unique sound signature. During the Cold War the US Navy created the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) to monitor and detect Soviet submarines early. Creating a similar program for use by the USCG would provide a more precise and cost-effective long-term technique to replace current high-cost surveillance by aircraft and ships. Past experience in SOSUS will allow the Navy to assist the USCG in positioning a hydrophone network to surveil known or anticipated high-density drug trafficking routes. After the hydrophones are positioned, the USCG will create a database of sounds. Each seagoing vessel creates a unique mechanical sound signature. Once collected, the sound tracks will be added to the database and correlated to the responsible vessel. This database will be an ongoing project, as new ships will need to be classified as interdiction targets or not. Those that are not classified as targets are included in the database, so future contacts can be ignored for safety, thus preserving resources. The use of the hydrophone network will provide significant strategic data, including the identification of emergency routes. When a suspicious vessel is identified by the hydrophonic system, a drone will be sent to evaluate the target to discriminate unaffected recreational or commercial vessels from those involved in the route. Drone pilots can be obtained from those currently employed by the Navy or DEA.