VOA标准英语2010-Mexican Officials May Have Discovered Mot

Police officers escort Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, right, to a court hearing in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 30 Mar¹ 2010

In Juarez, Mexico, authorities say a suspect they detained last week in connection with the March 13 murder of two US citizens has told them the reason for the killing² may have to do with treatment of jailed gang members across the border in El Paso, Texas. One of the victims worked as a jailer in El Paso.

 

Investigators³ in Mexico say the detained suspect Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, 45, claims the ambush⁴ of a US couple near the Juarez city hall on Saturday, March 13, was carried out as an act of retribution against Arthur Redelfs, who worked as an El Paso County Sheriff's detention⁵ officer and was accused by gang members of mistreating their compatriots there. 

Redelfs and his pregnant wife, Lesley, who worked at the US consulate⁶ in Juarez, died in their white sport utility vehicle after being shot multiple times.  Around the same time, a Mexican man who had been at a social event with the couple just minutes before was killed in similar fashion at another location.

According to Mexican authorities the second victim was also in a white sport utility vehicle and since the gunmen were not sure which one was Redelf's car, they decided⁷ to kill the occupants of both vehicles.  Such callousness⁸ is not unusual in Juarez, where drug-related violence has claimed the lives of more than four thousand, 800 people since 2008. The violence has claimed around 600 victims so far this year.

El Paso County Sheriff's Department spokespersons say they have no information to collaborate⁹ the reports coming out of Mexico, but they have said that Redelfs was a well-respected professional.  The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation¹⁰ and other federal law enforcement agencies are providing assistance to Mexican authorities in this investigation, but they have declined to comment on the developments in Mexico.

Federal agents and local El Paso authorities have targeted the Barrio Azteca gang in this investigation, detaining some two dozen gang members on warrants issued against them for other crimes and also questioning them for leads in the case.  The gang, which was formed in U.S. prisons, works in league with the Azteca band in Juarez, which is affiliated¹¹ with the Juarez drug smuggling¹² cartel headed by Vicente Carillo Fuentes.

In an effort to reduce the number of violent criminals in Juarez, the United States has stopped deporting¹³ released prisoners of Mexican nationality to the embattled city, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Leticia Zamarripa.

"It is a bilateral¹⁴ program by which now ICE is redirecting criminals, Mexican nationals, away from Juarez, and they are being sent to Laredo, Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas," explained Zamarripa.

So far this month, U.S. officials have sent around 800 released prisoners to other Mexican border cities with the hope that many of them will not work their way back to Juarez and become part of the city's criminal underground.  Zamarripa says US officials are well aware of the continuing bloodshed in Juarez and surrounding areas and want to help Mexican counterparts gain control of the situation.

"We feel that this is the right thing to do; this is the right time to do it, to try to see if it will help, help alleviate¹⁵ some of the violence we are seeing along our border," added Zamarripa.

The request for the halt to returning prisoners through Juarez originated with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz after officials there noticed that many homicides in the city were related to gangs that operate across the border and that ten percent of the city's murder victims had been deported¹⁶ from the United States.  At one point, there were as many as 300 people a day being deported through Juarez, which has gained a reputation as the most dangerous city in the world outside a war zone.

 

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 callousness   

参考例句：

• He remembered with what callousness he had watched her. 他记得自己以何等无情的态度瞧着她。 来自辞典例句
• She also lacks the callousness required of a truly great leader. 她还缺乏一个真正伟大领袖所应具备的铁石心肠。 来自辞典例句

9 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

10 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。

11 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

12 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。

13 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

14 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

15 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

16 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》