Summary
1 June 2009
Police in Chile have arrested two women, aged 72 and 80, after finding a stash of cocaine and cash in their house. It's thought that the women have been operating a drug-trafficking ring in the area for years.
Reporter:
Gideon Long in Santiago
Police found a stash of cocaine
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Police raided the house during the night and found two kilos of cocaine and around 65,000 dollars in cash. They arrested 80-year-old Maria Valdebenito and 72-year-old Giselle Gilbert and charged them with drug trafficking offences.
Mrs Valdebenito is bedridden. Prosecutors say she received the drugs from her contacts and passed them to her younger and more agile accomplice to sell. The house that the women used as their base is just a few metres from Chile's biggest police academy.
Prosecutors say the women should be taken into preventative custody while their case is considered. But, because of their frail state of health, they might be placed under house arrest instead.
Gideon Long, 大象传媒 News, Santiago
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Vocabulary
- raided
- suddenly entered and searched
- charged them with
- accused them of
- trafficking
- here, illegal transportation and trade (often used with words like 'drugs' or 'weapons')
- bedridden
- unable to get out of bed because of poor health and/or physical weakness
- her contacts
- here, people she knows and has dealings with
- more agile
- more active, able to move more quickly and easily
- accomplice
- somebody who helps somebody else to do something illegal or morally wrong
- that the women used as their base
- here, where the women conducted their illegal business
- taken into preventative custody
- placed and kept under arrest in a special secure place (e.g. prison) so they can no longer commit crimes
- frail
- weak, fragile
