Suggested activities

f. Write out the sentences or parts of them from the text which prove that:

1 DEA and CIA agents were very active in carrying out the Operation Cashflow.

2 Their reports made their bosses surprised.

3 The agent in Bolivia sent very concrete information.

4 The agent in the Bahamas gave very precise information.

5 The previous report on the Cayman Islands was very detailed and substantiated.

6 Great Britain promised the US some cooperation.

7 The investigations did not result in any concrete steps.

g Say which title you like and why:

Startling reports

They are still going strong

DEA and CIA agents make revelations

h Write down a title of your own.

i Discussion in class.

• The geographical position and the political systems of the countries mentioned in the text.

Say how close Panama is to the USA geographically.

Skim and scan:

Read the text quickly and answer the following question: What new profession has emerged in drug trafficking?

Text 4

After Asia, DEA's Operation Cashflow agent traveled to Panama. A few South Florida bankers had been indicted for accepting huge amounts of so-called suitcase cash without filing legally required reports, and traffickers had returned to moving the currency out of the United States physically... But paper is heavy – the proceeds of a heroine or cocaine sale generally weigh five times more than the drugs themselves. The traffickers' biggest problem had become the sheer bulk of their profits. Moving the money was harder than moving the drugs, and a cottage industry of currency relocation specialists had emerged to handle the problem.

One of these, a sharp-witted young entrepreneur named Ramon Rodriguez bought a Learjet and regularly flew from Fort Lauder-dale to Panama with half-ton loads of currency. Identified by DEA's man in Panama City, Rodriguez was allowed to import several multimillion-dollar shipments so he could be followed around the streets of Panama City delivering bushels of cash to various banks. What happened to the money? Was it wire-transferred to Colombia? Did it go on to Switzerland? Did it just stay in Panama? Where is it going? What happens after?

Rodriguez was eventually arrested with $5.4 million in cash. His accounts, computerized on floppy disks, showed he had flown nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to Panama in the previous twelve months. He said he was only one of a crowd, that there were several other airborne money-freight operators he knew of and no doubt some he didn't. To government analysts he looked like the tip of an underground multibillion-dollar «Air Cash» service industry.

§ Vocabulary notes

Words and Grammar

a Choose the synonyms from the box and write down a few word combinations with them:

proceeds – profit -

huge......................................... generally.................................

sheer....................................... regularly................................

eventually............................... load.........................................

sharp-witted.......................... different.................................

b Choose the antonyms from the box:

hard ... easy.............................. to accept....................................

heavy....................................... to emerge...................................

sharp-witted........................... to buy.........................................

to import................................. big..............................................

с Explain the meaning of the following words and word combinations in English and give Russian equivalents:

suitcase cash..........................................................................................................................................

to move currency physically.................................................................................................................

to move drugs........................................................................................................................................

a cottage industry of currency relocation specialists.............................................................................

airborne money-freight operators..........................................................................................................

the tip of an underground service industry.............................................................................................

d Make sentences of your own with the following phrases:

to be indicated for accepting huge amounts

to accept money without filing legally required reports

to return to moving the currency out of the USA physically

to import several multimillion-dollar shipments

e Find the English equivalents in the text:

самая большая проблема для наркодельцов............................................

общий объем их доходов...........................................................................

чтобы разрешить эту проблему................................................................

смышленый предприимчивый делец.......................................................

ящики с валютой весом по полтонны......................................................

сдавать огромные количества...................................................................

наличных денег в банки............................................................................

f Encircle the predicates, write down in what forms the verbs are used and complete the sentences:

1 Identified by DEA’s man in Panama City, Rodriguez was allowed to import several shipments.................

...................... (Past Indefinite, Passive)..............................................................................................................

2 He was followed around the streets of Panama City delivering bushels of cash to various..........................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

3 His accounts, computerized on floppy disks, showed he had flown nearly a quarter of.................................

..............................................................................................................................................................................

4 He said he was only one...................................................................................................................................