VOA标准英语2009年-Interpol Cracking Down on Central Africa T

By Scott Stearns
Dakar
09 November 2009

The international law enforcement agency Interpol is cracking down on the sale of stolen luxury cars in Central Africa. 

Interpol says thousands of luxury cars stolen in Belgium, France, and Japan enter Cameroon's port of Douala each year, many bound for buyers in neighboring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

From its new regional bureau in Yaounde, Interpol is moving to break-up the syndicates behind this organized crime by working with law enforcement officials in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon as well as officials from the other countries it covers: Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ronald Noble is Interpol's Secretary General.

"We agreed that we would create here in Cameroon, at our regional bureau, the first ever unit dedicated¹ to tracing assets that were taken from a country in a corrupt² fashion," said Ronald Noble.

Part of Interpol's approach is making consumers more aware that they might be buying stolen vehicles.
 
Commissioner Dominique Mpaya heads Interpol's national bureau in Yaounde.

Mpaya says people who are buying used cars should first check with Interpol authorities to ensure that those vehicles are not stolen. That saves them from losing their money if the car is eventually impounded by authorities as part of the ongoing³ crackdown on stolen vehicles called Operation Gbanda.

It is part of broader cooperation between Interpol and Central African governments since the opening of the agency's regional bureau earlier this year. Cameroon no longer requires visas for agents traveling on Interpol passports. Noble says it is one of many changes that have improved law enforcement during the past seven years.

"There were hundreds of millions of people traveling the world without having their documents checked by Interpol," he said. "Now they are checked by Interpol. Before we did not have a communications system that allowed information to be exchanged rapidly around the world with all of our countries. Now we do. Before we did not have a regional bureau here in Cameroon. Now we do. So in many ways, the cooperation and work with Interpol has been really, really strengthened over the last seven years."

The regional Interpol office is also focusing on increasing piracy⁴ in the Gulf⁵ of Guinea, illegal drug trafficking, arms smuggling⁶, cross-border highway banditry, computer-based crimes, and the poaching and trade of protected animals.

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 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。