纪录片:墨西哥打击贩毒集团

AS IT IS 2015-09-20 Documentary Shows US, Mexico Fighting Drug Cartels 纪录片:墨西哥打击贩毒集团

A new movie follows two communities -- one in the United States and the other in Mexico -- as they try to stop drug cartels from harming their cities.

Matthew Heineman is the director of the documentary movie, called “Cartel Land.” It tells about the work of cartels -- businesses or criminals that take part in illegal activity to make money.

It is late at night. Criminals are making drugs in the desert in the western Mexican state of Michoacan.

Matthew Heineman says he filmed the men as they were making methamphetamine, a powerful drug also called meth.

“The head chef, the head cook, the head of this operation started showing me around the process of cooking meth with this little flashlight, and with this little flashlight is what I ended up light, lighting¹ the scene with.”

The movie shows the lives of members of the drug cartels and members of the community groups on both sides of the border. The community groups are fighting the criminals who have damaged their neighborhoods.

“In Mexico the violence is visceral, its real -- 80,000 people killed since 2007; 20,000-plus people disappeared since 2007.”

The documentary says much of the violence is centered in Michoacan.  

Dr. Jose Mireles is a leader of a group of people in Mexico who are fighting the drug cartels.

He says, “There is a law called ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’”

The movie shows people in Michoacan who are tired of the fear and corruption² that have affected³ their towns. It says the Mexican army is trying to take back control of the state from the cartels and reestablish the rule of law.

Soldiers take weapons from people living there. This angers the residents, who believe they need the weapons to defend themselves against the cartel.

She says, “If this happened to you, you would be on our side.”

Mr. Heineman says the drug cartels would not exist if there was no demand for meth.

The meth cook told Matthew Heineman that, “The United States is where the most drugs are sold -- all over the U.S.”

Tim Foley is a veteran of the United States Army. He lives on the American side of the border, in Arizona. He has formed a group to fight the drug cartels.

“Back in the day, ‘vigilante’ wasn’t a bad thing. Say the bandits was riding into your town. The townspeople would all get together and, you know, defend their town.”

Mr. Foley and his group capture illegal immigrants. He believes some of those he detains are smuggling⁴ illegal drugs into the U.S. He brings the captured immigrants to the border police.

“This is what I consider to be 'The Wild, Wild West.' There is nothing down here, there's no law. I’m supposed to be able to pick up my telephone and go (say) ‘911 come help us.’”

Mr. Heineman says the drug cartels know how to smuggle⁵ meth across the border and into the United States.

“You know, you look up on the hillsides and there's cartel scouts⁷ looking down on you. You know, you, you listen to this scrambled⁸ radio traffic that they have, and you can hear the cartel talking about you. You can hear them pushing (moving) drugs through the valley.”

Mr. Heineman says U.S. border patrol officers do not believe they have enough people and money to fight the smugglers.

Words in This Story

documentary - n. a movie that tells the facts about actual people and events

flashlight – n. a small electric light that can be carried in your hand and that runs on batteries

scene – n. the place of an event or action; a part of a play, movie or story in which a particular action or activity occurs

back in the day – informal expression in earlier times

vigilante – n. a person who is not a police officer but who tries to catch and punish criminals

bandit – n. a criminal who attacks and steals from travelers and who is often a member of a group of criminals

911 – n. a telephone number used by people in the United States to ask for police or medical help in an emergency

scout⁶ – n. a soldier or member of a group who is sent to get information about the size, location and equipment of an enemy

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 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。

5 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。

6 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

7 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

8 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》