美国国家公共电台 NPR--U.S. officials say they're poised to deal a 'crushing blow' to fentanyl traffickers

U.S. officials say they're poised¹ to deal a 'crushing blow' to fentanyl traffickers

Transcript²

The officials say the U.S. has infiltrated⁴ the Sinaloa cartel, but the effort has sparked a backlash in Mexico. Some experts are skeptical⁵ fentanyl smuggling⁶ can be slowed.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

U.S. officials say they've identified and, quote, "infiltrated" the Mexican cartel smuggling most the deadly fentanyl now reaching American cities.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

They say they've launched a new effort to arrest leaders and top operatives of the Sinaloa cartel.

MART?NEZ: NPR addiction⁷ correspondent Brian Mann is here. Brian, what role do officials say this cartel plays in the fentanyl crisis?

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁸: Well, Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration officials say they now believe this one faction⁹ of the Sinaloa cartel, known as the Chapitos network, built and now operates the major pipeline¹⁰ of illegal fentanyl, pumping the drug into the U.S. They say these are the guys responsible for a lot of the 80,000 Americans dying from opioid overdoses every year.

MART?NEZ: And how do they know that?

MANN: What they say is that over the last 18 months, they managed to infiltrate³ the Chapitos network and, quote, "obtained unprecedented¹¹ access to the organization's highest levels." They were able to map out its operations from China to Mexico, to the U.S. And in these indictments¹² made public last week, they described secret fentanyl deals they were able to observe in locations around the world. And what they learned is pretty brutal¹³. In addition to smuggling all that fentanyl, the Chapitos allegedly waged a campaign of violence and terror. Here's Attorney General Merrick Garland.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MERRICK GARLAND: They often torture and kill their victims. They have fed some of their victims, dead and alive, to tigers belonging to the Chapitos.

MANN: It's pretty horrible stuff. And now the U.S. is offering tens of millions of dollars in rewards, A, as they try to arrest the cartel's leaders.

MART?NEZ: Tell us more about the Chapitos.

MANN: This faction of Sinaloa is led by the sons of Joaquin Guzman, known as El Chapo, who's already serving a life sentence in federal prison in the U.S. These guys took over after their dad's arrest. Sam Quinones is a veteran journalist who covers the Mexican cartels. He says capturing them would be a major victory.

SAM QUINONES: These guys are absolute creeps, these Chapito dudes. I think bringing these previously¹⁴ untouchable princes of drugs to some kind of justice is a very good thing all the way around.

MANN: And these indictments go beyond the top leaders. They target about two dozen Sinaloa operatives around the world.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. Meanwhile, the Mexican government has pulled back from cooperating with the U.S. in the drug war. What's their response to these indictments?

MANN: Well, this is interesting. They're angry. Everyone agrees the Chapitos network is a corrupting¹⁵, violent influence inside Mexico. But President Lopez Obrador told reporters Monday, this DEA operation infiltrating¹⁶ the Sinaloa cartel happened without his government's authorization¹⁷. He describes this as a threat to his country's sovereignty, says it's part of a wider campaign by the U.S. government spying inside Mexico.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: (Non-English language spoken).

MANN: What he says there is that it's abusive, arrogant¹⁸ meddling¹⁹ that should not be accepted under any circumstance. So while the U.S. says it's making progress here, the diplomatic rift²⁰ over how to tackle fentanyl, it's clearly widening.

MART?NEZ: And at the end of things, Brian, I mean, is there evidence that this pressure on this cartel will slow fentanyl smuggling and even maybe save lives?

MANN: Well, U.S. officials say they think this will help. But most experts I talked to are really skeptical. They just don't believe it. Fentanyl is really easy to make from industrial chemicals. The demand in the U.S., the level of opioid addiction is huge, so fentanyl trafficking is incredibly profitable. If the Chapitos are put in prison, there are other factions²¹ of the Sinaloa cartel and also other major cartels that are ready to take their place. Jon Caulkins studies drug trafficking at Carnegie Mellon University.

JONATHAN CAULKINS: I, though, am quite pessimistic. In the best of all possible worlds, we would literally²² shrink the supply. That's very difficult to do. That was very difficult to do even with cocaine²³ and heroin²⁴, and for a bunch of reasons, it's much harder with a synthetic²⁵.

MANN: So Caulkins supports this effort to take down the Chapitos. He thinks they're brutal criminals and should be brought to justice. But he also thinks, you know, the cold, hard reality is that fentanyl is here to stay.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Brian Mann covers addiction and drug policy for NPR. Brian, thanks.

MANN: Thank you.

1 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

4 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

6 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

10 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

13 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

14 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

15 corrupting   

（使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• It would be corrupting discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏风纪。
• It would be corrupting military discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏军纪。

16 infiltrating   

v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Be vigilant against the danger of enemy agents infiltrating the government and boring from within. 要警惕敌特渗入政府内部进行暗中破坏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The metastatic melanoma is seen here to be infiltrating into the myocardium. 图示转移性黑色素瘤浸润到心肌。 来自互联网

17 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

18 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

19 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

20 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

21 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

22 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

23 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

24 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

25 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。