BajaNomad

What's the truth of border inspections going south?

Doug/Vamonos - 7-15-2009 at 08:34 PM

I read some reports about the mexicans doing more searches of vehicles going south at the border (San Isidro). Any truth to this? Are they going through the cars or still just giving occasional drivers the red light? Thanks.

noproblemo2 - 7-15-2009 at 09:02 PM

They are getting serious about checking both cars and Rvs, nothing more than what the US border going north. It's a minor inconvenience they are just doing their jobs.

Bajahowodd - 7-15-2009 at 11:33 PM

The percentage of vehicles being pulled over is very small. If you don't imitially pull over into the declare lane, whether you actually need to declare something or to obtain a visa, you'll notice someone out in the main traffic lanes who will wave some cars over for inspection. It seems totally random, and nowhere near the thorough check our guys do heading North. In my opinion, it's being done more for show, as the Mexican's are a tiny bit peeved over the idea that it's US sourced weapons that are a big source of the cartels armaments.

bcburt - 7-15-2009 at 11:47 PM

They are almost complete with reconfiguring the entry lanes. From what I read a few months ago scales were going to be installed in each lane along with license plate readers. Apparently they will be recording vehicle weights as you cross now that will be linked with your plate number. A discrepancy will cause you to go to secondary. A stolen vehicle database will also be searched from the plate numbers that are read.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/30/1m30custo...

bajabound2005 - 7-16-2009 at 07:04 AM

Construction for the lanes into Mexico from San Ysidro has already started and this is what we have to look forward to:

"When these lanes become operational in the summer of 2009, each vehicle
crossing into Mexico will be weighed and scanned by electronic devices
to ensure that the vehicle is not bringing contraband into the country.
Primarily this is aimed at smugglers of weapons, ammunition, explosives
and cash that are being funneled to the drug cartels in Mexico. However,
the new screening process will also catch all varieties of metallic,
fibrous and electronic goods coming into Mexico and you may have to pay
duty on any undeclared merchandise."

David K - 7-16-2009 at 07:08 AM

I wonder how 'cash' (or anything else on that list) weighs different than a full ice chest? :lol::rolleyes:

Weight discrepancy

Dave - 7-16-2009 at 08:43 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I wonder how 'cash' (or anything else on that list) weighs different than a full ice chest? :lol::rolleyes:


The scales will be looking for large discrepancies based on wet weight of the vehicle. If your vehicle normally weighs 4,500 and comes across at 6,000 they'll figure you've got more than a full ice chest.

From a tourist perspective the real question is not what procedures or how effective but how long. If the border backs up then few will put up with the hassle.

[Edited on 7-16-2009 by Dave]

License Plate Database Glitches - Major Concern Here !!

ElFaro - 7-17-2009 at 09:52 PM

Here's a scenario that I'm really concerned about... and that is crossing south and Mex. Custom database wrongfully flags my License Plates. I get pulled into secondary and detained along with my vehicle and trailer. Now I'm forced to prove my innocence. Or they may keep my rig while I head north to get paperwork to straighten things out...or have to pay an "administrative fee" to smooth things over...or I'm detained in a holding cell while my wife heads north to get help. I don't know...I hope I'm not over reacting here. Anyone else here think this could be a common occurance at the TJ crossing ?:no::?:

Bajahowodd - 7-17-2009 at 09:56 PM

Depends on how serious the Mexican Migra are going to get. My best guess is that unless you're carrying something exotic, you'll get through in a few minutes.

SDRonni - 7-18-2009 at 07:20 AM

Do you think there would be any problem with carrying general household items to a new residence down there? Wow, my timing is just perfect! NOT!! FINALLY get our condo, don't want to bother with a menaje de casa and would like to be able to take stuff down piecemeal. Do you think they will hassle us for taking stuff like this (dishes, sheets, towels, small furniture)????:mad:

DENNIS - 7-18-2009 at 07:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SDRonni
Do you think there would be any problem with carrying general household items to a new residence down there? Wow, my timing is just perfect! NOT!! FINALLY get our condo, don't want to bother with a menaje de casa and would like to be able to take stuff down piecemeal. Do you think they will hassle us for taking stuff like this (dishes, sheets, towels, small furniture)????:mad:



Congratulations on your condo, Ronni. After all this time, I'm sure you'll appreciate your decision.
They probably wont bother you for taking down limited amounts of household items. Poco a Poco, as they say. A truck load might be different. I'm assuming your stuff would be considered used. A carload of new stuff would be different. So, if it's new, make it look used.

bajamigo - 7-18-2009 at 08:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS

A carload of new stuff would be different. So, if it's new, make it look used.


A few judicious sprays of ketchup and soy sauce on your new appliances will do wonders in aging their appearance.

bajaguy - 7-18-2009 at 08:14 AM

Pack everything you can in suitcases or duffle bags covered with a layer of clothes. Throw in an ice chest and a few sleping bags...make it look like you are going camping..if you have a dog in the vehicle, that is better.

I have a source for larger stuff or if you want to make one trip with furniture and/or appliances

DENNIS - 7-18-2009 at 08:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajamigo

A few judicious sprays of ketchup and soy sauce on your new appliances will do wonders in aging their appearance.



Well, yeah...that's the idea. Maybe invite a bunch of folks over for dinner, use all the plates and utensils, then instead of washing anything, pack them into a box and hit the road.
I won't suggest what could be done to the linen to prepare it for it's journey through the border.

Bajajorge - 7-18-2009 at 09:03 AM

If you're a gunrunner or a dope smuggler you should be nervous, but if you're an honest citizen, nothing to worry about. Just remember the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendements do not count in Mexico.

bajajudy - 7-18-2009 at 09:46 AM

A friend just came south through San Ysidro at 9pm Thursday....only 3 lanes....2 hours to cross. The hang up was on the US side.

SDRonni - 7-18-2009 at 10:02 AM

You guys make me laugh! Yes, we are so excited to be finally able to call Baja our second home! We went down last week and spent two nights, rented a place at our development. Met some new neighbors--really nice people! Even went to La Fonda for Taco Tuesday. I told my husband I felt like my heart was smiling! Went in our condo more times than I can count--taking measurements, checking the view/lighting at different times of day, toasting the goodness of life on the balcony! Our view is of the beautiful Pacific and southward--Calafia, the big "Jesus" statue, and all the way out to the point toward Ensenada. They say good things come to those who wait and, Lord knows, we've sure waited and this sure is a good thing!
Bajamigo: Fortunately, all our large appliances come with the condo. I'm sure I can make a mess of blenders/toasters/coffeemakers enough to make them look used.
Bajaguy: Dang! Wish we had a dog! Got one we can borrow? Just joshing. Also, yes, I would like your source for larger stuff. Thanks!
Bajajudy: 2 hours to cross southbound? Holy smokes! Wonder if they'll make an equivalent of the SENTRI to cross southbound?:wow:

elgatoloco - 7-18-2009 at 10:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajajudy
A friend just came south through San Ysidro at 9pm Thursday....only 3 lanes....2 hours to cross. The hang up was on the US side.


Wait until Seņor Torres hears that. :mad:

DianaT - 7-18-2009 at 10:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SDRonni
I'm sure I can make a mess of blenders/toasters/coffeemakers enough to make them look used.


That is the kind of stuff we wrapped in clothes and put in duffle bags ---ice chest at the back. :-)

It seems to be such a hit and miss thing. We have been lucky, got the red light a few times, but we open the shell door, they just took quick look in the back of the truck and off we went. When we had a couch hanging out the back of the truck, we crossed at Tecate and got the green light---:yes:

Have fun and enjoy your new home.

bajaguy - 7-18-2009 at 11:26 AM

Ronni

Check your u2u

vandenberg - 7-18-2009 at 11:38 AM

Those weight sensors really don't make much sense. There's a big difference weightwise between a vehicle carrying one person to one carrying 4 persons. At 175lb per, the latter vehicle will weigh 525 more. You would have to have 50 some K 47's in the trunk ( at 10lb each ) with just a driver and likely still not spark any curiosity.
Another government boondoggle.

bcburt - 7-18-2009 at 03:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajajudy
A friend just came south through San Ysidro at 9pm Thursday....only 3 lanes....2 hours to cross. The hang up was on the US side.


I noticed the backup going south when I crossed at 6pm going north on the 5 last Thursday. Traffic was backed up all the way to Dairy Mart. When I returned 4 hours later to cross back to Mexico it was still backed up to Via de San Ysidro. I got off the 5 and went over to the 805 where it was not backed nearly as bad.

I crossed again yesterday. I was expecting a long wait coming back but I only had to wait a few minutes crossing into Mexico at 7:30pm. So does anyone know what happened on Thursday?

They can count...

Dave - 7-18-2009 at 03:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by vandenberg
Those weight sensors really don't make much sense. There's a big difference weightwise between a vehicle carrying one person to one carrying 4 persons. At 175lb per, the latter vehicle will weigh 525 more. You would have to have 50 some K 47's in the trunk ( at 10lb each ) with just a driver and likely still not spark any curiosity.
Another government boondoggle.


People in cars. They got cameras all over the place. They know the wet weight of a particular vehicle. It ain't gonna be perfect but if they can snag a car or two daily then the smugglers will get the message.

k-rico - 7-18-2009 at 11:32 PM

MEXICO CITY - Try to bring a refrigerator into Mexico in the back of your pickup, and you are almost certain to get stopped by Mexican customs officials.

Stick a couple of AK-47 rifles in your trunk, and chances are you'll whiz right through.

Now Mexico is owning up to its leaky border as it launches a new program to monitor vehicles entering the country. The goal is to weigh and photograph southbound cars and trucks, in hopes of snaring more gun smugglers.

As the Obama administration promises a crackdown on the illegal U.S. weapons trade that supplies the drug cartels, Mexico is acknowledging shortcomings on its side of the 2,000-mile border.

"Security concerns require a customs overhaul," Alfredo Gutierrez Ortiz, who oversees border checkpoints as director of Mexico's tax collection agency, said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "Today, passenger vehicles really enter without being inspected."

Mexico checks only 10 percent of the 230,000 vehicles that cross the border each day, according to the federal Attorney General's Office. By weighing cars to see if they are unusually heavy, and running license plate numbers through a database of suspicious vehicles, the government hopes to catch more hidden contraband.

The United States has long weighed and checked the license plates of northbound vehicles, but the technology is new to Mexico, which is installing it at all customs checkpoints. It was introduced last week at Matamoros, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, and should be added along Mexico's border with Guatemala by year's end.

Such a systematic effort would be a big improvement: Inspections are now mostly determined by lights that randomly flash red or green. Frequent travelers say it is rarely red.

Inside Mexico, strict gun control laws prohibit sales of weapons with calibers higher than a .38 handgun. Even to buy those, citizens must get permission from the Defense Department.

North of the border, however, the cartels simply pay straw buyers to pick up weapons at gun shops, gun shows or flea markets, then resell the arms to smugglers.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/fromcomments/113401.php


Also, with the weight detectors, perhaps they'll uncover more stuff that they can collect duty on.

DENNIS - 7-19-2009 at 06:12 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by k-rico
Also, with the weight detectors, perhaps they'll uncover more stuff that they can collect duty on.



So...this turns into a revenue gathering strategy. It's all a bunch of nonsense. It would turn the border crossing into a parking lot the size of Qualcom Stadium.
How could weight detectors be any type of indicator of what's in a vehicle? Will it identify each type of car and know it's manufactured weight? Some people themselves weigh as much as half a tank.
It's all nonsense.....smoke and mirrors. A psycho-deterrent at best.
Who's paying for all this crap? The Merida initiative? Us? Who's getting fat off the manufactureing and sales of all this useless equipment?
This whole thing stinks.

One more thing....if this border delay is put into place, they can kiss tourism goodbye.

[Edited on 7-19-2009 by DENNIS]

bajabound2005 - 7-19-2009 at 07:32 AM

The hang up is right at the entrance to the Mexican border. They are tearing out the old gates to install the new equipment. So where there what, at one time 8 or so lanes crossing into Mexico - there are now 2,maybe 3. The far right ones are closed for construction and the far left ones are closed because when you cross, the military is set up on the other side.

The back up seems to start at about 3:00, so you'll want to cross before then.
Quote:
Originally posted by bcburt
Quote:
Originally posted by bajajudy
A friend just came south through San Ysidro at 9pm Thursday....only 3 lanes....2 hours to cross. The hang up was on the US side.


I noticed the backup going south when I crossed at 6pm going north on the 5 last Thursday. Traffic was backed up all the way to Dairy Mart. When I returned 4 hours later to cross back to Mexico it was still backed up to Via de San Ysidro. I got off the 5 and went over to the 805 where it was not backed nearly as bad.

I crossed again yesterday. I was expecting a long wait coming back but I only had to wait a few minutes crossing into Mexico at 7:30pm. So does anyone know what happened on Thursday?

k-rico - 7-19-2009 at 12:13 PM

Just got back from my Sunday morning run to the states to collect my mail and drink coffee with my OB buds.

Left the house in playas de tj at 5:30 AM, used my shortcut to the Sentri lanes, I was through the border and on Interstate 5 at 5:50 AM.

Looks like construction is finished at the southbound gates. Sailed right thru with a green light coming home. Maybe more construction is to come, I don't know.

Off to the seafood street fair at the beach now. Beautiful day, 80 degrees or so.

[Edited on 7-19-2009 by k-rico]

DENNIS - 7-19-2009 at 01:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by k-rico
Looks like construction is finished at the southbound gates. Sailed right thru with a green light coming home. Maybe more construction is to come, I don't know.



Maybe because it's Sunday?

nbacc - 7-19-2009 at 01:31 PM

Take things like new sheets and dishes out of their orginal boxs and bags. We put ours in black trash bags and just stuffed them in where ever. We also had bikes in the back that had to be taken out to see what else was in there......worked well. When we furnished our house in SF we took in quite a bit but it was all "used" and most of it was. We declared it all and payed what we considered a small tax for what we took in. Nancy

Bajahowodd - 7-19-2009 at 04:15 PM

We went South at SY just over three weeks ago mid-day and there was no sign of construction. We pulled into the declare area because we needed new FM-Ts. At that time, there were three vehicles being inspected by the Mexican authorities. So, I guess our timing was good.

DENNIS - 7-19-2009 at 04:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
We went South at SY just over three weeks ago mid-day and there was no sign of construction. We pulled into the declare area because we needed new FM-Ts. At that time, there were three vehicles being inspected by the Mexican authorities. So, I guess our timing was good.


They just knew you were coming to the party and offered their best. It's nice, I would imagine, to be important. :lol:

Bajahowodd - 7-19-2009 at 04:52 PM

Importante, Senor. Perhaps the next time we're down there, sometime this summer, we could assist you to your stool at Sharkeys. Drinks on us.

bajachris - 7-20-2009 at 10:43 AM

I have been pulled over to secondary at the boarder more often than normal. We also have a newer truck, and it seems to happen more often with me in the the newer truck. My husband is right behind me in the old piece of crap Truck and never gets pulled over. However, one time it was only me (a woman) and my large dog. My husband taking his time at a northern gas station in the other truck. They asked me to open my purse. Then they asked me if I had $10,000. I asked them the same and laughed and said no way. I started to get in my car, realizing that they are not allowed to open my purse. They insisted, so what could I do, so I opened my purse. They took one look at all the sanitary products and made me close it up again (sorry guys, you can't do this!). Obviously I didn't have tons of money in my purse. How stupid would I be? But, I got the feeling that they would phone someone ahead to rob me down the road. Just a feeling. Nothing happened on the trip though. But it definitely made me nervous. The moral: if you bring money, hide it! Otherwise get money at a discrete ATM. I use Smart and Final (also buy Tiquilla cheap) or El Reloj store. The other moral, which we all know is bring an older car. Obviously, not always possible. Be careful, it's still Baja. We've been down in June and April almost to Guerrerro Negro, and have had no problems. The usual, the road is windy and always an accident waiting to happen. Slow down!!! Life's too short.

shari - 7-20-2009 at 10:47 AM

for the first time, at a checkpoint north of san igancio I got asked to let them look in my purse!!!

Bajahowodd - 7-20-2009 at 11:09 AM

Face it. If one of the primary goals of the checkpoints is to search for weapons, why wouldn't they be curious as to what's in someone's purse. That being said, there still appears to be little consistency in the magnitude of the search from checkpoint to checkpoint. That is unless the whole exercise is random. We had people open our vehicle, just to look briefly Southbound at San Ignacio. The only time headed South. Northbound, it ran the gamut from "Buenos Tardes" and a waive on through, to opening luggage and poking though the clothes, and everything in between.