VOA标准英语 Drug Smugglers Found Guilty in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has convicted 15 men of trying to smuggle¹ nearly 700 kilograms of cocaine² through the country's airport.

Justice Nicolas Browne Marke found all 15 men guilty of conspiracy³ to import a prohibited drug without lawful⁴ authority.

Two Colombians, a Venezuelan, and a Mexican were fined $1 million and sentenced to five years in prison for importing cocaine. A third Colombian was fined $1.5 million and given five years in prison, and a Colombian-American was fined $2.5 million and given five years in prison on the same charges.

Justice Marke recommended all the foreign nationals in this case be expelled from the country. Only President Ernest Bai Koroma can sign an expulsion order, and Attorney General Abdul Serry Kamal says the government agrees with the judge's recommendation.

Agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation⁵ are in Freetown waiting to take custody⁶ of several of those convicted.

But defense⁷ lawyers object, telling a hastily called news conference following the sentencing that it would be an affront⁸ to the dignity of the court for their clients to be removed from Sierra Leone at this time.

Those convicted include a resident of Guinea Bissau, a man with joint⁹ Cuban-Togolese nationality and several Sierra Leoneans including two police officers, a national security officer, and two air traffic controllers.

The four-month trial heard evidence that smugglers in a small white plane with a fake Red Cross emblem¹⁰ took on their cocaine cargo¹¹ along the border between Colombia and Venezuela, before making an unauthorized landing at Freetown's Lungi International Airport last July.

The two-man crew taxied the Caracas-registered Cessna Conquest to a remote part of the tarmac and drove off in a waiting jeep, breaking through a locked gate on the airport's northern perimeter¹². Security personnel surrounded the plane and discovered several automatic weapons and nearly 700 kilograms of cocaine.

The drugs seized in Sierra Leone's largest cocaine bust¹³ have an estimated value of $100 million. Justice Marke ordered the cocaine be destroyed.

1 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。

2 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。

3 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

4 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

11 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

12 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

13 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。