BajaNomad

Mexicali shake down..

advrider - 11-23-2023 at 08:20 PM

Our race team crossed on November 8th to head to San Felipe for the night, in route to La Paz. As soon as we crossed the border the local cops had a choke point set up to funnel traffic down to one lane.
One guy picked me out and had me pull to the curb. He used his phone to translate that I needed to pay a $300 US dollar ticket for no front plate. He proceeded to tell me that he knew we were in a hurry to get racing so I could just pay him. Several times he pulled out his handcuffs and twirled them on his finger like he was going to cuff me.
I told him I'm retired and had all the time in the world and that we could go to the station anytime he was ready. He kept telling me the station was a long was away. I got out and started cleaning out my passenger seat, he asked why I was doing that. I told him so he could ride with me to the station. I then sat on the curb and waited. He gave in and sent me on my way.
This was my first shake down in twenty years of Baja travel. Looking back, I should have turned my phone to point at my window (it's in a holder on the dash) and let him see me recording.



[Edited on 11-24-2023 by advrider]

BornFisher - 11-23-2023 at 10:00 PM

'Tis the season for mordida. Beware travelers, tourists, racers, fishermen, foodies, beverage consumers, and all who dare cross before Christmas!

surfhat - 11-24-2023 at 09:00 AM

'Tis the season for dash cams. All year long.

David K - 11-24-2023 at 11:44 AM

Quote: Originally posted by advrider  
Our race team crossed on November 8th to head to San Felipe for the night, in route to La Paz. As soon as we crossed the border the local cops had a choke point set up to funnel traffic down to one lane.
One guy picked me out and had me pull to the curb. He used his phone to translate that I needed to pay a $300 US dollar ticket for no front plate. He proceeded to tell me that he knew we were in a hurry to get racing so I could just pay him. Several times he pulled out his handcuffs and twirled them on his finger like he was going to cuff me.
I told him I'm retired and had all the time in the world and that we could go to the station anytime he was ready. He kept telling me the station was a long was away. I got out and started cleaning out my passenger seat, he asked why I was doing that. I told him so he could ride with me to the station. I then sat on the curb and waited. He gave in and sent me on my way.
This was my first shake down in twenty years of Baja travel. Looking back, I should have turned my phone to point at my window (it's in a holder on the dash) and let him see me recording.



[Edited on 11-24-2023 by advrider]



advrider - 11-24-2023 at 08:40 PM

It's funny that you mention a camera. Another guy on the team brought one for me but I told him I would install it when we got to San Felipe! I feel it would have been over sooner if I had turned on my phone and started recording.

Skipjack Joe - 11-28-2023 at 11:41 PM

What's there to record? He either has front plates or he doesn't?

mtgoat666 - 11-29-2023 at 12:00 AM

Quote: Originally posted by advrider  
Our race team crossed on November 8th to head to San Felipe for the night, in route to La Paz. As soon as we crossed the border the local cops had a choke point set up to funnel traffic down to one lane.
One guy picked me out and had me pull to the curb. He used his phone to translate that I needed to pay a $300 US dollar ticket for no front plate. He proceeded to tell me that he knew we were in a hurry to get racing so I could just pay him. Several times he pulled out his handcuffs and twirled them on his finger like he was going to cuff me.
I told him I'm retired and had all the time in the world and that we could go to the station anytime he was ready. He kept telling me the station was a long was away. I got out and started cleaning out my passenger seat, he asked why I was doing that. I told him so he could ride with me to the station. I then sat on the curb and waited. He gave in and sent me on my way.
This was my first shake down in twenty years of Baja travel. Looking back, I should have turned my phone to point at my window (it's in a holder on the dash) and let him see me recording.

[Edited on 11-24-2023 by advrider]


How do we know this was a shakedown? If you are from CA or 28 other USA staes, then your car was illegal if missing front plate. Not enough info in this story to determine is your car was street legal.

Lee - 11-29-2023 at 10:31 AM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  

How do we know this was a shakedown? If you are from CA or 28 other USA staes, then your car was illegal if missing front plate. Not enough info in this story to determine is your car was street legal.


Give it a break. ''choke point set up to funnel traffic down to one lane. One guy picked me out and had me pull to the curb.''

How many MX cars passed these cops with no plates front or back? That's the f'ing point. Gringoes are singled out with laws that only apply to gringoes.

If you need more info, you don't know MX and Baja.

Skipjack Joe - 11-29-2023 at 01:39 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Lee  

Gringoes are singled out with laws that only apply to gringoes.


That's true. Mexican law breakage is ignored usually. Nobody even has plates here in Asuncion much less being up to date.

surabi - 11-29-2023 at 02:20 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Lee  
Gringoes are singled out with laws that only apply to gringoes.

If you need more info, you don't know MX and Baja.


This may be true in Baja, but it doesn't hold true for all of Mexico. I have lived north of Puerto Vallarta for over 20 years, have only been pulled over 3 times, and in all those instances, I had, indeed, committed a traffic infraction. I was issued a ticket, no mordida.

I make the 1 hr. drive to PV at least once every 2 weeks, and could count on one hand the number of times in 20 years I have seen cars with gringo plates pulled over, while I've seen hundreds of Mexicans pulled over by the transitos and police.

Lee - 11-29-2023 at 07:27 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
Quote: Originally posted by Lee  
Gringoes are singled out with laws that only apply to gringoes.

If you need more info, you don't know MX and Baja.


This may be true in Baja, but it doesn't hold true for all of Mexico. I have lived north of Puerto Vallarta for over 20 years, have only been pulled over 3 times, and in all those instances, I had, indeed, committed a traffic infraction. I was issued a ticket, no mordida.

I make the 1 hr. drive to PV at least once every 2 weeks, and could count on one hand the number of times in 20 years I have seen cars with gringo plates pulled over, while I've seen hundreds of Mexicans pulled over by the transitos and police.


Nice. I have to think, maybe, Baja cops earn less, or, are more corrupt than PV cops. And I don't think all Baja cops are corrupt. There have to be good ones around.

surabi - 11-29-2023 at 08:52 PM

I don't think cops are paid well anywhere in Mexico. But I do think the PV and area cops and transitos have been instructed not to single out gringoes.

Never forget the time I saw a transito who had just taken the plates off and put a ticket on the windshield of a Mexican work truck that was illegally parked in my town being yelled at by the truck owner. "I'm working here- I had to unload materials and tools! You expect me to park 2 blocks away and carry everything? When am I supposed to go pay this ticket? I work every day the office is open!"

Transito says, in a small, cowed voice, "Maybe your wife can go pay it?"

"My wife works, too, cabron!"

[Edited on 11-30-2023 by surabi]

mtgoat666 - 11-29-2023 at 09:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Lee  
Gringoes are singled out with laws that only apply to gringoes.


Many baja nomads have a persecution complex.

I have been stopped by popo once in 30+ years driving in Baja, and i was in the wrong.

I suspect the people protesting most loudly @bout baja cops are asian women drivers (Figuratively or literally) (all these supposed offroading drivers claim to be experts, but they sure do get stopped frequently for crappy driving ). :lol::lol::lol:

pacificobob - 11-30-2023 at 09:13 AM

One effective strategy I have employed is to avoid driving like an a-hole.

David K - 11-30-2023 at 11:19 AM

Over my 50 years of Baja driving, I have been stopped about 5 times, never getting a ticket or going to the station (which is a great avenue if you do get a ticket).

1) Tijuana, late 70s or early 80s: Before sunrise on the ramp to the border fence road after entering Mexico. A m/c cop said I was speeding (I was not). All the time I had a talk with him, not one other car passed us, it was that quiet. He must have been bored or was hungry for breakfast? Finally sent me on my way, all good.

2) Ensenada, along the harborside Blvd. 1980s, m/c cop said I didn't use my turn signal when changing lanes! I put on a puzzled look, turned on my turn signal, and walked to the back of my Subaru to show the cop my signal worked just fine, lol. I didn't need to wait long before he got a radio call and let me go.

3) Ensenada, ~1983, towing my co-worker's dead VW with my Subaru all the way from San Felipe to get back across the border (using a tow strap). At an intersection we were entering, a bus pulled in front of me and stopped, causing us to block traffic until the bus moved. Horns honking for the many seconds and naturally, there was a police car there! With all smiles, I explained I was helping my friend get back home (we both were in our twenties). The cop tells me tow straps were illegal. My first reaction was to say that I have seen so many tow cars that way. Obviously driving to the station would be difficult plus my friend (who was younger) had never been to Mexico and was near panic about the police horror stories!

Well, I asked the friendly officer if he could pay the fine for us due to the towing difficulty. HE asked ME how much would this infraction cost in the U.S.!! (I couldn't believe it) I said, I think maybe $20? [of course it would have been a lot more]

The smart officer agreed BUT added, saying $20 for my car AND $20 for my friend's!
My final request was for him to give us an escort out of Ensenada to the toll road so that we wouldn't be stopped by another police officer.
HE AGREED... and after several city intersection to the four-lane highway, the cop pulled over, happily waving at us a bon voyage!
Getting the police escort was worth the $20 we each paid and now a GREAT story can be forever told!

4) Tecate, 2002, along the border street before the crossing, was some detour onto city streets. A sign pointed where to make a turn and when we did, a m/c cop pulled me over saying I made an illegal turn! I basically stood my ground and he finally went after easier prey.

5) 2017: Maybe a dozen miles before El Rosario in one of those big dips was a Federal Highway Patrol, holding a radar gun! I was going about 65 MPH, wanting to get a nice room at Baja Cactus, I was bushed! The speed limit was 80 KPH or 50 MPH! I pulled over immediately in that dip, CAUGHT, no denying it!

The officer walked across the highway, I smiled and agreed I was violating the speed limit. We began a friendly chat about things, my Tacoma, the highway history, the radar gun. I asked him how it worked. He walked with me back across to his patrol car and let me hold the radar gun at approaching cars so I could see the reading! What fun!! He told me to be more careful with my speed and let me go... Back at my truck, I offered him a cold bottle of water from my ice chest. He came back across the highway to accept it... we were new friends!

The moral of these stories is attitude. It is hard for the police in Mexico to be mad or pushy if you greet them with smiles, admitting your faults, and again, smile! VIVA BAJA!

surabi - 11-30-2023 at 02:10 PM

A guy I know was driving back up to the US border, has several hours drive still ahead, but it was nighttime, he was sleepy, so pulled off the highway down a country road alongside some farmers' fields, and laid down in the back of his van. Soon there was someone banging on the side of the van. A young cop, asking what he was doing there. He explained he was heading to the border, but needed a couple hours sleep, or he'd be a danger on the road. The cop said he couldn't park there. He asks why not- he's not disturbing anyone, there's no houses around, just fields. Cop keeps insisting he can't park there.

Guy says, " Your mother's probably proud that you're a police officer- would she be proud to know you spend your time hassling someone who isn't doing anything wrong, just needs to sleep for a couple hours?"

The cop turned around, got back in his cruiser and drove away.

Hook - 11-30-2023 at 05:31 PM

If I had a peso for every Mexican I see driving without a license plate, I would be a rich man.

But, The Goat would actually have to spend serious time in Mexico to realize this. :lol:

[Edited on 12-1-2023 by Hook]

David K - 11-30-2023 at 06:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
A guy I know was driving back up to the US border, has several hours drive still ahead, but it was nighttime, he was sleepy, so pulled off the highway down a country road alongside some farmers' fields, and laid down in the back of his van. Soon there was someone banging on the side of the van. A young cop, asking what he was doing there. He explained he was heading to the border, but needed a couple hours sleep, or he'd be a danger on the road. The cop said he couldn't park there. He asks why not- he's not disturbing anyone, there's no houses around, just fields. Cop keeps insisting he can't park there.

Guy says, " Your mother's probably proud that you're a police officer- would she be proud to know you spend your time hassling someone who isn't doing anything wrong, just needs to sleep for a couple hours?"

The cop turned around, got back in his cruiser and drove away.


I really thought this was a great joke... end with with the cop saying, "hombre, you tell her, the bedroom wall used to be where your van is parked!"

advrider - 11-30-2023 at 08:58 PM

I kid you not, less than two miles after I was pulled over a car coming at me was missing the whole frontend! No hood, bumper or fenders, I had a good laugh.
Still love Baja and have way more good interactions than bad. It seems that the military check points have become much more perfosinal then they were in the past.

pacificobob - 12-1-2023 at 05:54 PM

The check points seem to be more relaxed in October, November. Lots of south bound semi-residents..... experienced in baja, not as soft of targets as some other categories of motorist ......imo

surabi - 12-1-2023 at 07:42 PM

I never had any problems at the military checkpoints, whether I crossed in July or January. They were always polite, never pulled any weird stuff, just doing their job.

BajaMama - 12-3-2023 at 11:49 AM

Stupid comment #342. Why would an officer try to shake down a local Mexican? Odds are they don't have an extra $20-200 in their wallets.

But gringos do, most of the time. So of course they pull over gringos to shake down. More profitable.

AKgringo - 12-3-2023 at 02:59 PM

Three times I have encountered temporary check points that were set up
and checking Mexican plated cars while waving US (and presumably Canadian) cars through.

They didn't even ask where I was coming from or where I was going.