VOA常速英语2017--美国指定多名墨西哥毒枭

The United States is in the midst of its most severe drug epidemic¹ since the 1980s. Indeed, although the flow of illicit² narcotics³ across the U.S. border with Mexico threatens people in both countries, in the United States, heroin⁴ use has reached the level of a public health crisis. And today, Mexican drug trafficking organizations are the primary suppliers of heroin to the United States.

美国正面临着自上世纪80年代以来最严重的毒品泛滥。确实如此，美墨边境的非法贩毒威胁着两国人民，而且美国海洛因的使用已经达到了公共健康危机的程度。今天，墨西哥的贩毒组织是为美国提供海洛因的主要来源。

One of the tools that helps the U.S. government to dismantle⁵ drug trafficking organizations is the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, also known as the Kingpin Act. The Act allows the U.S. Department of the Treasury⁶ to target significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their organizations, and operatives, and deny their access to the U.S. financial system and all trade and transactions involving U.S. companies and individuals.

美国政府剿除贩毒组织的一项利器就是《外国毒枭指定法》(Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act/ Kingpin Act)。这项法律可以让美国财政部找到国外的重大毒枭、其所在的贩毒组织、实际操作者，然后禁止他们进入美国的金融体系，防止他们与美国的企业和个人进行贸易往来和交易。

In late May, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, in close coordination⁷ with the Drug Enforcement Administration (or DEA), identified Mexican national Jose Luis Ruelas Torres and the entity⁸ he heads, the Ruelas Torres drug trafficking organization, as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers. At the same time, ten associates of the Ruelas Torres organization were tagged as Specially⁹ Designated Narcotics Traffickers.

五月末，美国财政部海外资产控制办公室(OFAC)在与美国缉毒局(DEA)认定墨西哥公民托雷斯(Jose Luis Ruelas Torres)及其领导的组织Ruelas Torres为国外重大毒枭。同时，Ruelas Torres的十名员工也被认定为特别指定毒贩。

The Ruelas Torres drug trafficking organization, which is based in Sinaloa, Mexico, is an independent opium¹⁰ and heroin production and distribution enterprise that has been smuggling¹¹ heroin into the United States for two decades now. The organization is a family affair, with Jose Luis Ruelas Torres' relatives running various parts of the enterprise, including the production, smuggling, distribution and sales of narcotics, laundering¹² of the proceeds and returning the money to Mexico.

Ruelas Torres贩毒组织位于墨西哥的锡那罗亚州，可以进行鸦片和海洛因的独立生产和流通。过去20年来，这家公司一直都在向美国境内走私海洛因。这家组织是家族企业，公司各个业务线都由托雷斯的亲属来打理，比如生产、走私、流通、销售、洗钱、将钱转回墨西哥。

The joint¹³ efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and OFAC represent a sustained initiative to combat foreign drug trafficking organizations or those acting¹⁴ on behalf of them, from doing business via the United States, said Barbara Roach, DEA Special Agent in Charge of the Field Division in Denver, Colorado, one of the main destinations for the Ruelas Torres drug trafficking organization.

美国缉毒局和美国财政部海外资产控制办公室的通力合作代表着双方在打击境外贩毒组织和代理贩毒组织通过美国进行贩毒交易的持续努力，美国缉毒局负责科罗拉多州丹佛分区的特工芭芭拉 罗奇如是说道。科罗拉多州丹佛区就是Ruelas Torres贩毒组织的主要目标地之一。

Such sanctions serve as one of the most important and multi-faceted avenues with which U.S. law enforcement can effectively and efficiently¹⁵ disrupt and dismantle major international drug trafficking organizations and anyone doing business with them.

这种制裁是最重要的、面面俱到的方式之一，通过这种方式，美国的执法机关能够切实有效地打乱甚至剿灭国际贩毒组织和与他们有交易的人。

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

3 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

5 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

8 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

9 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

10 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

11 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。

12 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。