EXPLORATIONS - Shadow Wolves Find and Arrest People Trying t

EXPLORATIONS - Shadow Wolves Find and Arrest People Trying to Bring Illegal Drugs Into the U.S.
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we visit the desert of the American southwest to learn about a group of people called the Shadow Wolves.

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VOICE ONE:

A Shadow Wolf is hunting. He is not looking for animals. He is hunting people. The Shadow Wolf walks slowly across the hot desert sand. His eyes move slowly over the ground. Most people would only see sand, dirt, rocks and some small plants. The Shadow Wolf sees a story.

 
Shadow Wolves can see a lot of information in markings on the sand 
He looks closely¹ at the ground. He can tell that five men passed this way. Four of them carried heavy loads. He can also tell they are moving quickly. They are not yet running, but they are moving as fast as their heavy loads permit. One man is not carrying a heavy load. The Shadow Wolf knows this person is the group's leader.

The Shadow Wolf increases his own speed across the dry, hot desert. Soon, he can tell that the five men are running. They know he is following them.

Minutes later, in the far distance, a group of birds suddenly flies away from the ground. The five men have frightened the birds. The Shadow Wolf slowly pulls out his radio and calls for help.

The five men are captured² within an hour. They are arrested for trying to bring illegal drugs into the United States. Once again, the Shadow Wolf hunters have been successful.

VOICE TWO:

For thousands of years, people were hunter-gatherers. They survived by hunting wild animals and gathering³ food that was not easily found. Their hunting skills were extremely important. The ancient hunter-gatherers of the world learned⁴ to follow the signs or marks left on the ground as animals moved along a path. This skill is called tracking. A good tracker would often spend days following the signs of a group of animals until he could make a successful kill for food.

VOICE ONE:

These skills have disappeared in most of the modern world. Yet, the Shadow Wolves use them to find and arrest people who try to sell illegal drugs. The Shadow Wolves are all Native Americans. They are special employees of the United States Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security⁵.

There are about twenty Shadow Wolves. They belong to the Tohono O'odham Tribe⁶ and more than ten other Native American tribes⁷.

The Shadow Wolves live by a saying that tells a lot about them and their work. The saying is: "In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil⁸ shall escape my sight, for I am the Shadow Wolf."

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VOICE TWO:

The Shadow Wolves have been doing their special work since nineteen seventy-two when they worked for what was then called the Customs Service. They work on the Tohono O'odham Reservation⁹. It is the second largest area of American Indian land in the United States. It is a few kilometers west of the city of Tucson, in the southwestern state of Arizona.

The huge reservation shares a one hundred twenty kilometer border with Mexico. People who want to sell illegal drugs in the United States carry the drugs on their backs across the desert land of the Tohono O'odham Reservation. They try to move from the border to the nearest road, about forty kilometers away. Usually about three or four people carry the drugs through the reservation at night. Their shoes leave marks in the dirt.

The Shadow Wolves follow these shoe marks to find the drug dealers¹¹ and arrest them. The Shadow Wolves have been very successful in their work.

VOICE ONE:

The Congress¹² of the United States approved the idea of the Shadow Wolves for several reasons. Police agencies¹³ in Arizona and the United States Customs Service had all the modern technology needed to help catch people who tried to sell illegal drugs. But they lacked the skills of the ancient hunter-gatherers who could follow the signs left by people as they passed through the desert.

Customs Service officials knew drug dealers were coming across the border and into the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The government asked Indians who lived on the reservation to help in the fight against the drug dealers. The first members of the Shadow Wolves were members of the Tohono O'odham tribe.

A few years ago, the first members of this unusual group began to retire. The group asked if skilled¹⁴ trackers from other tribes wanted to become Shadow Wolves. The answer was yes.

VOICE TWO:

The Shadow Wolves do not use only their ancient tracking skills. They also use modern devices¹⁵ that help them see in the dark. They use modern radios to communicate. They use airplanes, helicopters and other methods of transportation in their work. And they carry weapons as well as water, survival¹⁶ devices and flashlights.

The Shadow Wolves have a very good record. In one recent year they seized forty-six thousand kilograms of illegal drugs. This was almost half of all the drugs seized by the Customs Service in the state of Arizona. In one day alone they seized more than three hundred fifty kilograms of the illegal drug marijuana.

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VOICE ONE:

The Shadow Wolves' main task is finding¹⁷ and stopping illegal drug dealers. However, sometimes they are asked to help rescue people who become lost in the desert. For example, in two thousand one, three Shadow Wolves saved the life of a little boy who had become lost in the desert.

The child and his dog left their home and walked into the desert. No one could find them. Special search aircraft were used. Experts with dogs were called on to help. The aircraft and the dog experts searched but could not find the little boy.

Three Shadow Wolves then joined the search. They found very little evidence of the boy in the desert. But they found just enough for them to begin tracking the child. They continued to follow the marks left by the little boy until they found him and his dog. They returned them safely to their home.

VOICE TWO:

The Shadow Wolves also share their skills with law enforcement¹⁸ agencies in other countries. They have traveled to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. They have helped train police, border guards and customs officials. They have taught them skills to help them find people who may be transporting chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The police and border guards in those countries were often surprised when the Shadow Wolves began teaching¹⁹ them ancient methods of tracking. The Shadow Wolves say the police and guards expected to learn how to use some kind of modern electronic equipment. Instead they were taught ancient hunting skills.

VOICE ONE:

Bryan Nez is from the Navajo tribe. He has worked with the Shadow Wolves group for about fifteen years. He learned to track as a child. Mister²⁰ Nez says he learned more by finding lost children and people on holiday who became lost in the desert.

 
Brain Nez of the Shadow Wolves. Picture by Scott S. Warren
Other Customs and Border Protection officers say it is interesting to watch him work. Most people would not see anything unusual in an area. Yet, Mister Nez sees a lot of evidence of people passing through. He says anyone can be followed because they leave signs on the ground. He says he can follow them even at night, or over rocks. Sometimes, he says, the evidence he needs is something that he sees. Other times the evidence is something that he does not see. Sometimes it is just a feeling that he has.

VOICE TWO:

The work of the Shadow Wolves is dangerous. Sometimes the illegal drug dealers carry weapons. Shots have been fired more than once. One of the Shadow Wolves, Glen Miles, was shot and killed by an illegal drug dealer¹⁰ in nineteen eighty-six.

Two other Shadow Wolves tracked the killer²¹ all the way to the Mexican border. The signs he left on the ground crossed the Mexican border nine kilometers from where the shooting took place.

VOICE ONE:

Each month, the Shadow Wolves find hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and arrest those carrying the drugs. The group knows it will never catch all the criminals who try to move illegal drugs through their area. However, the Shadow Wolves will continue to prove that ancient skills can be used to solve modern crimes.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

2 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

6 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

7 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

9 reservation   

n.保留条件，限制条件；预订座位

参考例句：

• The instruction should be carried out without any reservation.应当不折不扣地执行这个指示。
• I accept your statement without reservation.我完全相信你的话。

10 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

11 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

12 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

13 agencies   

n.代理( agency的名词复数 )；服务机构；（政府的）专门机构；代理（或经销）业务（或关系）

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations. 联合国有许多专门机构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The project is funded by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. 这项计划由世界银行和其他多国机构资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

15 devices   

n.设备；装置( device的名词复数 )；花招；（为实现某种目的的）计划；手段

参考例句：

• electrical labour-saving devices around the home 节省劳力的各种家用电器
• modern labour-saving devices such as washing machines and dishwashers 诸如洗衣机和洗碗机之类的现代化省力设备

16 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

17 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

18 enforcement   

n.实施, 执行

参考例句：

• MPs called for tougher enforcement of the existing laws on drugs. 下院议员呼籲加强现行毒品法律的执行力度。
• The court is ineffective because it lacks the necessary enforcement machinery. 法院效率低是因为缺乏必要的执行机制。

19 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

20 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

21 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。