A Coast Guardsman from the Cutter Gallatin, seen in the distance, prepares to remove suspected drug smugglers from their boat. Some 4,000 pounds of cocaine were seized in this one interdiction alone. The arrests and seizure took place in waters just north of Cartagena, Colombia. The Coast Guard aims to reduce the supply of drugs from the source by denying smugglers the use of air and maritime routes in the Drug Transit Zone, a six million square mile area, including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific.
