VOA双语新闻：14、美国打击南方边境的毒品走私（在线收听）

美国打击南方边境的毒品走私

Nogales, Arizona, is notoriously known as a “tunnel city," utilized by traffickers to smuggle humans and narcotics into the United States. The U.S. Border Patrol and local authorities have responded with new technologies and a heavier presence in the area to help uncover and destroy the tunnels before they are completed.

亚利桑那州的诺加利斯以“隧道城”之名为人熟知，毒品贩子通过隧道将毒品走私到美国。美国边境巡逻队和当地政府在那里使用新科技，并且加派警力，力图在这些隧道完工前找到它们，将其摧毁。

Many of the migrants who embark north toward Arizona are fleeing the Border Patrol, not running toward them for help -- a stark contrast from the Texas border, where the vast majority of undocumented immigrant target=_blank class=infotextkey>immigrants from Central America seek to be apprehended in a bid for asylum.

很多北上来到亚利桑那州的移民都在躲避边境巡逻队，而不是向他们寻求帮助。这和德克萨斯州边境的情况完全相反，大多数从中美洲来到美国的偷渡客都希望在那里被捕，以便寻求避难。

This is in part due to rampant human trafficking in the area, where smugglers called "coyotes" use immigrant target=_blank class=infotextkey>immigrants to transport arms and narcotics across the border, and through tunnels underground.

造成这种情况的部分原因是这个区域的人口偷渡问题，这些被称作“野狼”的走私犯通过地下隧道，利用移民将武器和毒品偷运入境。

Tunnel system

The U.S. Border Patrol granted Voice of America access to the 1.6-kilometer Morley drainage tunnel that runs north from Mexico into Nogales, Arizona. The tunnel originally was built to avoid flooding on U.S. territory, due to the higher elevation of its neighbor city, also called Nogales, across the Mexican border..

美国边境巡逻队允许美国之音记者进入长达1.6公里的莫利排水隧道，这条隧道从墨西哥往北进入亚利桑那州的诺加利斯。最初建造该隧道的目的是防止美国领土上的洪灾，因为边界另一侧也叫做诺加利斯的墨西哥城市地势更高。

Kevin Hecht, a tunnel expert with the U.S. Border Patrol, explained, “So the gate's set up, when enough water pressure hits it, it hinges from the ceiling and it lifts up to let the water through, but it goes back down to keep the people out. And then that gate's in place too, there's one to the north, and the reason for that, is the smugglers would come in from the north, and mess with all this infrastructure, the lighting, the cameras and everything in here that monitors this, so we had to put gates on both sides.”

凯文?赫克特是美国边境巡逻队的隧道专家。他说，“足够大的水量使闸门感受到压力，顶上的铰链会将门提起来泄洪，但是之后门会降下，禁止人行。北方也有一扇门,因为以前走私犯会从北边进入隧道，在照明灯、摄像机和其他监控设备上做手脚，所以我们不得不在两边都安上门。”

The preexisting drain and sewage infrastructure has created opportunities for drug traffickers to excavate and construct illicit border tunnels.

以前存在的排水和污水设施为毒品贩子制造了机会，他们在那里开凿和建造非法的边境隧道。

Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino praised efforts by the Border Patrol and police to halt construction of most tunnels and prevent them from ever being used. But he said he believes the tunnels will continue to be developed as long as the incentive remains.

诺加利斯市长阿图罗?盖里诺赞扬了边境巡逻队和警察付出的努力，他们阻止了大多数隧道的施工，使它们无法投入使用。但是他也相信，只要走私贩们不死心,他们还会继续挖掘隧道。

“I wish there were tunnels for a subway system [laughs], but I think we're going to have tunnels forever, as long as there's a need, and as long as there's somebody in the United States that wants drugs, because that's why they come acrossm" he said. "They don't bring undocumented people through tunnels, they bring drugs.”

他说，“我倒是希望我们有地铁隧道，但是我想只要有需求，只要美国还有人想要毒品，隧道就永远都会存在，因为这就是他们越过边境的原因。他们通过隧道带来的不是偷渡客，而是毒品。”

Tucson sector Border Patrol spokesman Pete Bidegain said agents maintain a heavy presence along the area's 48-kilometer border wall because of the smuggling activity, and they rely on cooperation with Mexican officials to keep the border secure.

图桑境内的边境巡逻队发言人皮特?比德盖安说，由于走私活动猖獗，他们在那一段48公里的边境墙范围内仍会保持很多警力，也会依靠与墨西哥官员合作，来保障边境地区的安全。