BajaNomad - Mexico Tightens Border

Mexico Tightens Border

Bajahowodd - 11-25-2009 at 12:57 PM

Many Nomads are already aware of at least certain aspects of this program This article appears in today's LA Times, which will obviously give it greater distribution. I was struck by two aspects. First was that Mexican immigration is planning to transmit all vehicle license plate numbers to a DF data base. Second, apparently, they have always considered the importation of second-hand clothing without paying duty to be some sort of major offense.

Also note the point of view that what this will do will be to decrease cross-border traffic while having little positive effect on stemming the flow of weapons.

By Richard Marosi

November 24, 2009 | 9:19 p.m.

Reporting from Tijuana - Driving into Mexico has been a largely hassle-free experience for decades: There were few customs inspectors, even fewer gates, and for most border crossers, no questions asked.

That's about to change.

The Mexican government is modernizing its ports of entry along the border, including its biggest crossing in Tijuana. The new infrastructure -- which includes gates, cameras and vehicle scales -- is meant to help curtail the flow of drug money and weapons to Mexican organized crime groups.

But bolstered security means more border-crossing logjams, and business and trade groups fear that the new measures will deal another blow to a fragile regional economy.

The System of Supervision and Vehicular Control is still in the testing phase ahead of its scheduled January rollout, but traffic jams already occur regularly at peak crossing times in late afternoon. Cross-border trips from San Diego that once took five minutes can take an hour or more.

Baja California Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan, fearing more damage to the collapsing tourism industry if increased wait times discourage Southern Californians from venturing south, has lobbied federal authorities to scale back the inspection process.

But President Felipe Calderon, under pressure to show progress in his nearly three-year offensive against drug cartels, declined, saying the measures are a necessary sacrifice. Since 2008, more than 1,000 people have been slainin Tijuana, many of them with guns believed to have been obtained in the U.S.

"We want security," Calderon said on a recent trip to Tijuana. "This requires sacrifice and measures that permit us to stop the trafficking of weapons, drugs, drug money and criminals across this border."

Intercepting the flow of contraband has always caused a headache for northbound travelers. Motorists in Tijuana sit in a sea of traffic waiting to be inspected by U.S. agents who run through a battery of checks, including license, passport and, in some cases, criminal background reviews.

Tijuana customs inspectors in the past conducted random checks and focused on people trying to avoid paying duties on shipments of secondhand clothing, or traffickers bringing hard-to-find drugs, such as Ecstasy, into Mexico. They also found the occasional rooster being smuggled onto the Tijuana c-ckfighting circuit.

Mexico's new process doesn't approach the sophistication and strictness of U.S. inspections levels, but still represents a dramatic change.

Instead of motorists driving directly onto Tijuana streets, a gate will block the way. License-plate photographs will be run against a criminal database in Mexico City; a scale and vehicle-scanning system will determine if the car may be overloaded with contraband; and canine units will roam the area.

Suspicious vehicles will be directed to a secondary inspection area staffed by inspectors and Mexican marines.

The process, Mexican officials say, should take about eight seconds per car, but business leaders have their doubts. And even an eight-second wait translates into traffic snarls at peak crossing times.

"It adds another brake to the cross-border economic engine. People are already not sure of passport requirements and worried about cartel violence across the border," said Kenn Morris, president of the Crossborder Group Inc., a San Diego-based market research firm. "And as word spreads that southbound border waits can take 30-40-60 minutes out of your life. . . . It's going to really highlight the lack of infrastructure and progress in creating efficient border crossings in our region."

On a recent late afternoon, the long wait times were on full display. Claudia Serrano, a San Diego resident, said she waited about 20 minutes, much longer than the five minutes it used to take her to cross into Tijuana. She was taking her children to a relative's birthday party, but had been ordered into the secondary inspection area, a rare occurrence in the past.

Serrano, an import-export broker who crosses twice daily, can't avoid the waits. But she said many of her Mexican friends don't cross anymore. "They hate waiting so long."

Some Americans didn't seem bothered by the slow crossing, including those heading south last weekend for the Baja 1000 off-road race. Traveling in convoys of trucks pulling expensive dune buggies and motorcycles, many said they appreciated the extra security. "It's a sign of the times," said Jim Blackmore, a member for the Riviera Racing Team.

Some experts question whether the new measures will affect southbound flows of contraband, pointing out that U.S. inspectors intercept a fraction of the drugs entering the U.S., despite having even more sophisticated detection methods. Mexican authorities say they're confident that the inspections will enhance their ability to spot traffickers.

"There's a lot of information we can exploit here," said Cesar Montoya, the port director.

The people most affected will be daily cross-border commuters like Richard Corona, 32, whose waits total more than one hour on some days. Corona, a construction worker, moved his family from the San Diego area to lower-cost Tijuana last year due to the slowdown in the construction industry.

"I'm thinking of going back," said Corona, waiting about 20 minutes for Mexican officials to inspect his Ford Escape. "This is not even worth it."

richard.marosi@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Woooosh - 11-25-2009 at 01:20 PM

I'm concerned about the "vehicle scanning" process more than anything else ("a scale and vehicle-scanning system will determine if the car may be overloaded with contraband"). Only Mexicans are in a hurry to get back into TJ for some reason- I never get passed by Gringo's heading south in the breakdown lanes... it's always the Tijuaneros.

The USA X-Ray scans your car at secondary inspection stations only (the radiation sensors are unavoidable) - and those people leary of any radiation can opt out of sitting in the vehicle while it is being scanned. I don't trust Mexico to have the proper equipment or that they have it adjusted and in use correctly.

DENNIS - 11-25-2009 at 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
I don't trust Mexico to have the proper equipment or that they have it adjusted and in use correctly.

Why's that? Don't you think it would be fun to glow in the dark around Christmas? :lol:

Woooosh - 11-25-2009 at 01:42 PM

Maybe that's the export energy Mexico is talking about... "GlowGringos"

Bajahowodd - 11-25-2009 at 03:36 PM

Quote:

The USA X-Ray scans your car at secondary inspection stations only (the radiation sensors are unavoidable) - and those people leary of any radiation can opt out of sitting in the vehicle while it is being scanned. I don't trust Mexico to have the proper equipment or that they have it adjusted and in use correctly.

Does that mean if was a bunch of Mexicans operating the scanning equipment at Cedars-Sinai?

http://cbs2.com/health/Cedar.Sinai.Radiation.2.1244165.html

[Edited on 11-25-2009 by Bajahowodd]

Woooosh - 11-25-2009 at 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
The USA X-Ray scans your car at secondary inspection stations only (the radiation sensors are unavoidable) - and those people leary of any radiation can opt out of sitting in the vehicle while it is being scanned. I don't trust Mexico to have the proper equipment or that they have it adjusted and in use correctly.

Does that mean if was a bunch of Mexicans operating the scanning equipment at Cedars-Sinai?

http://cbs2.com/health/Cedar.Sinai.Radiation.2.1244165.html

[Edited on 11-25-2009 by Bajahowodd]

Actually I had a full body scan MRI up there a few months back and all the technicieans were mostly "spanish bi-lingual" at best and the doctor from India. I spoke in spanish to one tech who enjoyed my accent and accents became the topic of conversation.

But that's not the point. The USA supposedly has strict medical standards and procedures for calibrating and maintaining X-Ray equipment. All the operator does is push a button- and he's not the one I'm worried about.

We came through the border two days ago........

CasaManzana - 11-25-2009 at 07:39 PM

.......heading south of course. Quite a new set-up to greet you with fancy control lights and maybe 50% of the vehicles directed to the inspection lines- now on the right and left sides. It seemed to be that only small sedans buzzed through and all trucks/vans and wagons were inspected. There were four traffic direction officers standing in the traffic flow. Inspection for us, in our loaded pickup, was fast with very little digging around in our stuff. Mid-morning was our crossing time. Two months ago when we crossed none of this existed.
(no spell check was damaged in this posting)

Woooosh - 11-26-2009 at 09:12 AM

I was thinking about picking up one of the Vizio 55" LCD's Friday at Costco for $999- but have no idea at all what the duty would be. I'll bet Friday will be a huge duty-money-maker day with almost every southbound car being checked.

monoloco - 11-26-2009 at 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
I was thinking about picking up one of the Vizio 55" LCD's Friday at Costco for $999- but have no idea at all what the duty would be. I'll bet Friday will be a huge duty-money-maker day with almost every southbound car being checked.

15%

DENNIS - 11-26-2009 at 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
I'll bet Friday will be a huge duty-money-maker day with almost every southbound car being checked.

Yeah...I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the border this Friday....or any Friday for that matter.

Joelt - 11-26-2009 at 10:54 AM

In October we crossed southbound and stoped at imigration to get our fmt's. They had cars coming in the exit of the declarations parking area. No room for anyone to move. Some guy backed all the way out in order for me to exit. Usually I have to press the button but I just passed it this time. I gota get an fm3. I drive a truck when I go down so I will expect to be stoped next time.

BooJumMan - 11-28-2009 at 09:53 AM

Seems like the military checkpoints along the peninsula should also concentrate on south bound traffic. As much as I dislike stopping every few hours for a shakedown, it might be in better interest for Baja. This summer we didn't get stopped once going south, and of course got stopped and searched every point going north...like usual.

Udo - 11-28-2009 at 09:58 AM

Another good reason to use the Tecate crossing for southbound traveling Nomads

DianaT - 11-28-2009 at 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by udowinkler
Another good reason to use the Tecate crossing for southbound traveling Nomads

Has anyone crossed within the last week or two at Tecate or somewhere other than San Ysidro? Has anything changed at those crossings?

Thanks

Woooosh - 11-28-2009 at 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco

Quote:

15%

Didn't get a red light. Saved 15%.

Bajahowodd - 11-28-2009 at 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BooJumMan
Seems like the military checkpoints along the peninsula should also concentrate on south bound traffic. As much as I dislike stopping every few hours for a shakedown, it might be in better interest for Baja. This summer we didn't get stopped once going south, and of course got stopped and searched every point going north...like usual.

The Southbound stops have been random and probably precipitated by some event. We've been stopped a few time S/B. And there was a time not long ago where there was considerable backup S/B at the San Ignacio checkpoint. I'm thinking that the infrastructure being placed at the border is more about placating the US than anything else.

N2Baja - 11-28-2009 at 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT

Quote:

Originally posted by udowinkler
Another good reason to use the Tecate crossing for southbound traveling Nomads

Has anyone crossed within the last week or two at Tecate or somewhere other than San Ysidro? Has anything changed at those crossings?

Thanks

We crossed at the eastern poe in Calexico on Thursday, the 19th and the U.S. agents were stopping all cars and running the dogs around the vehicles. They even opened a few doors and had the dogs sniff around inside the cars. Total delay was maybe 10-15 minutes.

When we got to the main southbound gate, we were waved through, as it appeared was the case with every vehicle.

nbacc - 11-28-2009 at 01:06 PM

Crossed at E Calexico on the 15th...business as usual. Nothing new. Got the green light. Of course it was a Sunday and not too many cars, took us about 3 minutes.

ELINVESTIG8R - 11-28-2009 at 01:12 PM

It's Ok with me if they tighten up the border on both sides. Just a few extra minutes for the searches. No Biggie!

Heckuva Deal But

Bajahowodd - 11-28-2009 at 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco

Quote:

15%

Didn't get a red light. Saved 15%.

Great price. Vizio now is the leading seller of flat screens. But it does not bode well for Mexico. Vizio TVs are made in Taiwan. actually Vizio itself is nothing more than a marketing company that basically buys the sets from the Taiwan company. That said, if it hasn't already happened, Sony is closing their Mexicali TV plant, and they are selling a 90% stake in their huge TJ plant to another Taiwan-based company.