2007年VOA标准英语-Two British Girls Face Drug Smuggling Charges i

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
13 July 2007

Two British teenagers have been provisionally charged with drug possession and drug trafficking in Ghana. Experts say Europeans, as well as pregnant women and minors¹, are increasingly being used by traffickers to smuggle² drugs from West Africa to Europe. Selah Hennessy reports from the West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Two girls, Yasemin Vatansever, 16, and Yatunde Diya, 16, were arrested at Accra airport on July 2.

Officials at the airport say they had over five kilos of cocaine³, worth around $600,000, found inside laptop bags the girls were carrying.

Beryl St. James, a spokeswoman for Britain's Revenue and Customs in London, says it is not uncommon⁴ to see Europeans used as drug couriers.

"The thing that is quite surprising is that they are young, but people being arrested from Europe is not unusual," she noted⁵.

But Antonio Mazzitelli, the representative for West and Central Africa at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes, says their age is no surprise.

He says recent trends have shown that trafficking networks are using a broader range of so-called 'mules⁶' to smuggle drugs into Europe.

"More and more traffickers use all kinds of couriers, minors or not," he explained.  "Women, pregnant women, Europeans coming from East Europe or from West Europe. We should not be surprised to see minors or in the future why not even children being used for smuggling⁷ drugs."

Mazzitelli adds that as governments have become stricter on migration⁸ and illegal immigration, it has become harder for Africans to get visas. As a result Europeans are increasingly recruited by drug trafficking networks.

The international police organization Interpol has recently reported that drug trafficking has risen sharply in Africa, with the continent being used as a transit⁹ point for smugglers bringing drugs from Latin America to Europe.

According to an official, cocaine seizures¹⁰ totaling nearly 7,000 kilograms have been reported to Interpol by West African police forces during the last three months.

If found guilty, the British teenagers could face up to ten years in jail.

1 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

3 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。

4 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

7 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。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 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。

10 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句