With a "transit zone" of more than 7 million square miles, roughly twice the size of the continental United States, the U.S. Coast Guard has a big job when it tackles the smuggling trade, according to a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

The zone, which includes the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Pacific Ocean, has been under surveillance by various means since Alexander Hamilton told commanding officers of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1791 to guard against illicit trade, warning of the resourcefulness of those who were "unlading goods before the arrival of a vessel into port."

Cutters regularly cruise the waters, and aircraft dot the skies.

But it is, after all, 7 million square miles, and the criminals -- transnational organizations with vast plans for illicit drug and human smuggling rings -- are very persistent.

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But there finally appears to be a leveler, a tool that offers the Coast Guard a chance to cast a net over offenders: unmanned drones.

According to a report from the Coast Guard, it is working to build a system of unmanned aircraft systems to combat smugglers and enhance border security.

It is working to add programs using small drones to its cutters.

"Already installed and operating on Coast Guard Cutter Stratton, the sUAS will be used in conjunction with … other assets to provide persistent, tactical airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to enhance the cutters' effectiveness," the service branch reports.

"The real-time footage and persistent surveillance capability of the sUAS assisted with the interdiction or disruption of four go-fast trafficking vessels carrying more than 5,000 pounds of contraband on Stratton's inaugural sUAS deployment in early 2017. A request for proposal for sUAS capability to outfit the full NSC fleet is planned for release by the end of this fiscal year."

For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.