VOA常速英语2008年-Investigators Struggle to Fight Drug Crimes in

By Phuong Tran
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
01 April 2008

International anti-drug agents have warned repeatedly that Guinea-Bissau has become a key transit¹ point for drugs going from South America to Europe. The government of the impoverished² West African nation says it needs much more international help to fight the drug trade, but security analysts³ accuse high-ranking officials of being part of the problem. For VOA, Phuong Tran reports she spent time with a government anti-drug investigator⁴ who struggles with limited equipment and suspicion within his own ranks.

An undercover investigator, who goes by the alias⁵ Francisco, works the overnight shift at the city jail in the capital Bissau.

He says almost no one in Guinea-Bissau knows he is part of a recently-formed eight-person national drug crimes team.

He says that they are so covert⁶, they have no weapons. He says they have no handcuffs, or phones that can make international phone calls. Energy is scarce and there is no electricity after 4:00 in the afternoon. The National Police has just one truck.

Francisco says if an informant calls him, he needs to find a taxi cab or rental⁷ car to follow the tip.

Several weeks ago, Francisco says his team received a tip a small plane had made an unauthorized landing. The police truck was available, he says, but there was no gas.

The director of the police loaned her personal car, but by the time the team reached the site, the plane was gone.

Francisco says the military had apparently⁸ moved the plane to an army base. Analysts and security experts who have studied the drug trade in Guinea-Bissau accuse government officials and the military of taking part in the lucrative⁹ business.

In a British television news report last year in which a local journalist acted as an interpreter, Guinea-Bissau navy chief, Jose Américo Bubo Na Tchuto, was quoted as saying soldiers were implicated¹⁰ in the trade. But he later denied making the statement, and filed libel charges against the journalist whom he said had misinterpreted his words.

Another local journalist went into hiding after he received threats following his own reports on the drug trade.

The government says the allegations of official complicity are being investigated.

But Francisco Benante, the president of the National Assembly, says corruption¹¹ happens everywhere, including in Guinea-Bissau.

He says militaries are paid off in many parts of the world to look the other way. He says the only difference with Guinea-Bissau is that the military is in his words, "hungrier and poorer".

For years, the government has not been able to pay its employees on time, including members of the military and the police as the country struggles to recover from its latest coup¹², less than five years ago.

The United Nations estimates about 40 tons of cocaine¹³ passes through West Africa annually¹⁴ on the way to Europe, and a big chunk¹⁵ of this apparently passes through Guinea-Bissau.

Undercover investigator Francisco says it is hard to compete with drug traffickers. He says the wholesale¹⁶ value of 2.5 tons of cocaine in Europe is equal to the 2006 annual budget of Guinea-Bissau, about $125 million.

Traffickers co-opt people in Guinea-Bissau into providing surveillance, transportation, and support for their operations. The traffickers use planes and ships to drop off and pick up drugs throughout the inlets and islands that make up Guinea-Bissau's coast.

Francisco says he became an anti-drug investigator, because he says, he hates seeing his country potentially being ripped apart by the drug trade.

He says he knows his job is dangerous, but that he used to be a freedom fighter against Portuguese¹⁷ colonizers, and he needs to do this now for his country.

At the end of his 12-hour shift, on this day, investigator Francisco has not received any leads. He says he works with six informants. He says if the tip is good, he pays. He also tries to cover their transportation and telephone costs if he can.

But he says he has lost some informants because drug dealers¹⁸ and their local collaborators can pay more to keep them quiet.

1 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

2 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

5 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

6 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

7 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

10 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

13 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。

14 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

15 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

16 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

17 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

18 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。