Under the cover of darkness, the drug runners assemble their loads of Colombian cocaine bound for major U.S. cities. Some will be loaded into planes for clandestine flights to the Dominican Republic. Some will be stowed away on vessels bound for U.S. ports. Other shipments will be smuggled to Venezuela, then rushed north via fast boat. Semi-submersible submarines will cloak drug shipments from the eyes of law enforcement.

These routes will converge on the U.S. territories in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Once these drugs reach the United States, outlaws will ship them to cities in Florida and along the eastern seaboard for sale in America’s neighborhoods.

This is not a fictional scenario from a Hollywood screenwriter. It is the new reality of the drug war in the United States today.

Over the last decade, the federal government has made headway in securing the southern U.S. border, particularly in combating drug traffickers operating from Mexico, Colombia, and Central America through efforts such as Plan Colombia, the Merida Initiative and the Central America Regional Security Initiative.

But it’s not enough to secure only part of the border. Drug shipping routes through the Caribbean that were last prominent during the 1980s are being reactivated by South American cartels. We squeezed the balloon in one region, and now drug criminals are shifting their focus back to the Caribbean.

An estimated 30 percent of illegal drugs reaching the U.S. mainland come through the Caribbean, with 70 percent to 80 percent of the cocaine reaching Puerto Rico from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Colombia going on to major U.S. cities.

Drug traffickers positioning for territory have detonated a surge in violence. As a result, Puerto Rico is experiencing a murder rate over five times the national average, with more than 70 percent of murders directly related to the drug trade. That’s simply unacceptable in any U.S. jurisdiction.

There is a growing realization in Washington that international drug criminals operating through the Caribbean pose a national security threat. But our collective response is neither fast enough nor sufficient enough. People are dying. Families are suffering. We owe them our commitment to stop the violence.

I continue to urge the federal government to establish a U.S. Caribbean Border Initiative, similar to the efforts Washington has taken along the U.S. southern border. We must bolster resources, funding and staffing of federal law enforcement agencies throughout Puerto Rico that remain understaffed and underfunded. We are at the epicenter of the battle, yet we do not have the resources to win.

My administration has repeatedly requested more effective law enforcement resources from federal authorities. We are leaning heavily on our local law enforcement, better equipping our police force, and have deployed our National Guard for periods of time. We are investing in new security equipment that will enable us to scan 100 percent of the cargo entering the Port of San Juan.

The people of Puerto Rico are doing our part in the battle against drugs. But until we have the proper support, the cartels will continue to scoff at America’s laws and –— most important — endanger the nation’s communities.

The situation along the country’s under-protected Caribbean border will only worsen without courageous leadership, vital resources and full cooperation. This security threat simply will not dissipate on its own.

Drug crimes will escalate and drug networks will expand their reach into U.S. neighborhoods, compromising the safety of families.

This situation does not have to end as a tragedy. We can send a clear message that Americans will be protected unconditionally, and that drug criminals’ reign of destruction is over.

We are not solving this national security threat by shifting the problem from one region to another. I ask our leaders in Washington to make this issue a top priority and help Puerto Rico with the necessary resources to fully protect our nation’s vulnerable Caribbean border. The American people deserve nothing less.

Luis Fortuño is governor of Puerto Rico.