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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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Theft at military checkpoint
Last November, going South, at the checkpoint North of Guerrero Negro.
Cleaned and sharpened my red Spartan Swiss Army knife (with the tweezer and toothpick) days before and placed it in the center console of my car.
I asked myself: is this knife OK here? Don't recall my answer but it wasn't: NO. Don't leave it there.
In GN, I checked the console and it was gone. Lots of sentimenal value at 15 years old. Still missing it.
The military slimeball who palmed it took a lot of time rummaging through that area and I couldn't see what he was doing.
So, I know the rules and just needed to be reminded that there's a bad apple in every bunch. Don't plan to tempt these guys again.
I'm positive someone is enjoying my knife right now.
US Marines: providing enemies of America an opportunity to die for their country since 1775.
What I say before any important decision.
F*ck it.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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Buy another one just like it, Lee, and put it right back where you remember it was , and move on. The lesson is worth the price of the knife.
By the way....was the blade of legal length? Perhaps there was some divine intervention here. 
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805gregg
Super Nomad
Posts: 1344
Registered: 5-21-2006
Location: Ojai, Ca
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You need 1 person to watch everyone looking through your vehicle, and what did you expect?
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goldhuntress
Senior Nomad
Posts: 663
Registered: 1-28-2010
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Too bad. I hate it when you think about something, do it anyway, and then what you thought about happens. Thanks for the reminder, follow your
intuition, always.
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BooJumMan
Senior Nomad
Posts: 919
Registered: 8-11-2007
Location: San Diego
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A few years ago I had an old buck knife my dad had given to me from the 70s, it weighed a ton, and was just a really nice knife. I had it in the
center console, and when I was getting searched I remembered about it being in there.
One guy grabbed it, and as soon as he grabbed it he peered up and noticed I saw him. He then instantly went on the offensive and started giving me
crap for having a pocket knife, he even went to the extent of asking me if I was going to use it on people!!
Always good to put all your valuables on you before each check point I guess. Those guys are desperate down there. 
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BooJumMan
Those guys are desperate down there. |
Desperate or not, the guy was just being a thief. That's nothing down here.
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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Think at 3'' the blade was legal.
Had to remember the details to write this summary but have moved on. Funny thing was I never answered the mental question I asked myself -- or else
would NOT have put the knife in the console. I know the odds.
Yeah. Lesson worth the price of the knife and less than $20.00.
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8678
Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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We keep all our documents (passports and such) and other valuables in a large freezer bag. Whenever we go thru a inspection...that bag is in my hand.
Sorry. I would never trust leaving valuables in the car during the inspection process.
Bottle water is offered after the inspections.
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Reporting Problems
If you encounter a problem (theft, mistreatment, attitude) at a military checkpoint, don't move your vehicle and demand to speak to the Sargeanto
Primero (First Sergeant) or the Teniente (Lieutenant)
It also helps if you address the enlisted solders by rank.....check their hats......
A Private (Soldado) has no markings
A Corporal (Cabo) has one black horizontal bar
A Second Sergeant (Sergento Secundo) has two black horizontal bars
A First Sergeant (Sergento Primera) has three black bars
The First Sergeant will usually handle any problems with the enlisted soldiers.
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6364
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
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Mood: TEQUILA!
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Thanks for the rank explanations, Bajaguy. As always you are the best!
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Udo
Thanks for the rank explanations, Bajaguy. As always you are the best! |
Here ya go, Udo. Terry put these up as well a while back and I saved them just for this moment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_military_ranks
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captkw
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3850
Registered: 10-19-2010
Location: el charro b.c.s.
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Mood: new dog/missing the old 1
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theif/ck points
HOLA, I always have a dog so that slow's um down and alway's keep the trunk locked,2nd,,,I let them search the car first,,then when thats done I let
them ck the trunk,and watch um like a hawk,while making joke's and keeping it a fun gig,,they are just boys ,,doing a job K&T
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Well, hmmm....
It's a little more complicated than just theft. Bad communication, vague law and fuzzy interpretation all come into play in something like this.
Mexican penal law supposedly (enforcement) prohibits the placing of a weapon (knife) within grasping distance ofthe steering wheel. There is a
specific millimeter blade length limit for folding knives, another for fixed blades. I do not remember the specifics.
Soldados know enough about the law to understand that any knife within reach is prohibido. The dishonest ones will take the weapon knowing they are
treading in a gray area but the sargento and even teniente will back them up for the confiscation. Them keeping it however is another story.
Now that I have a bright UV light for finding scorpions I purchased a tiny squeeze bottle of UV bright orange powder. I had a 10-year old thief remove
a 200 peso note from my nightstand drawer a few years ago. Half the village watched as Jesus shined the light onto the kid's hand. When it glowed, he
jerked it away and ran off.
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vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
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Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
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Wow, compassion? I hope that public shame was what this young man needed to correct his behavior.
Having him "orange-handed" seems to have presented several other means to help HIM hold HIMSELF accountable and perhaps learn for himself that he can
be more than a thief. That is what wise elders are for.
What's at risk for this kid if he steals again? Does it socially get any worse? (than public humiliation?) I suspect that he will steal again before
he will find the kind of courage it would take to fight through his shaming and ask to be let back into the fold.
I can't imagine this kid has a very high opinion of himself right now, nor can I see him being given much of a chance to get back into accountability.
Please tell me there is more to the story than a child's public humiliation and running away in shame.
[Edited on 2-24-2012 by vgabndo]
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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| Quote: | Originally posted by vgabndo
Please tell me there is more to the story than a child's public humiliation and running away in shame.
[Edited on 2-24-2012 by vgabndo] |
This forum is full of examples of gringo post-morality: judging people down South with Northern morality.
The cops who scammed the tourist in Tecate for $400 laughed and drank, most likely, all night. Guilt? Yeah maybe at not holding out for $500.
This kid might ran for being caught. Bet his parents laughed at his innocence. Mostly likely, they didn't give it a second thought.
The military slimeball who stole my knife? Yeah, guilt, that he didn't have a chance to find more loot.
Accountability? Lack of high opinion? Maybe discuss class issues while you're at it.
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vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
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Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
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Lee, like you I got my initiation into manhood at an MCRD. I've since found another kind of manhood.
Yes this kid has likely grown up in an environment where it is socially acceptable to blame it on the devil and scapegoat accountability in the
delusion that somebody already died for their sins. This falls short of a moral code, and the evidence of its failure is all around us.
I wish I could get a mortgage like that, where you only have to pay up after you're dead!
For now...I can only change the world one man at a time. Or one boy at a time. The situation is far too dire for pessimism.
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13237
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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a year or so ago someone also got robbed at the checkpoint and ever since then, Les watches his side of the truck and I watch from the other.
Prior to that we had gotten pretty lax. It only takes one time to get burned and regret not being more careful.
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Leo
Senior Nomad
Posts: 518
Registered: 9-23-2004
Location: Todos Santos
Member Is Offline
Mood: could be better
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Also learned the hard way. About 5 years ago at the check point just north of El Rosario. 7 am, fricken cold in fog, my wife forgot to take her purse
with her once summoned to get out of the car. Next time she needed her purse, gone. Had it still the evening before to pay for dinner at Mama Mia's.
Now we take everything of value out of the car.
The grass is always greener....
and so, there is always a better spot in Baja
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Backpack Plan
We keep everything of value in two small backpacks, whenever we stop, the backpacks go with us. Camera cases are attached to the backpacks.
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Lee
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3597
Registered: 10-2-2006
Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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When I got to GN, I was grateful the 2 cell phones I had on the passenger seat were still there.
Things of value might include a pen, can opener, or anything of ''value'' to the rotten apple stealing it at the checkpoint.
I'm going back to having nothing in my console or glove compartment which makes it faster to inspect. If nothing is there, nothing can be
missing.
Loose, smaller items like cameras, especially, do better in a knapsack. Something like a flashlight I keep between between driver/passenger seat,
also.
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