Crime, Safety, and the Police

[StRobert]

Wednesday was my first day here on this trip. I was here a month ago during the peak of the caravan. I felt that Tijuana was back to normal now. I thought the police presence was much less than a month ago. Though there was a heavy federal presence in the zona last night. They were feeling up a few gringos driving and tearing their SUVs apart, looking for something.Hi! I was also in Hong Kong on Wednesday. I finished a business with my chica, I drank two Heineken and around 10 PM go out and just outside the Hong Kong club - wtf ! A scene like from the movie: five Federales with big machine guns aimed at a white car from the US, license plate from California and they are looking for something in the car. I don't know what they were looking for and don't want to know. Probably drugs, cash, weapons or maybe dead body. I quickly jumped into a taxi to the pedeast border back to USA.

[Hargow20]

It does seem a bit. I can never quite figure why they stop some people often times. This is another reason why I avoid driving Tijuana. Driving a American car in Tijuana is simply another unneeded reason for law enforcement to hassle you in Mexico.


Hi! I was also in Hong Kong on Wednesday. I finished a business with my chica, I drank two Heineken and around 10 PM go out and just outside the Hong Kong club - wtf ! A scene like from the movie: five Federales with big machine guns aimed at a white car from the US, license plate from California and they are looking for something in the car. I don't know what they were looking for and don't want to know. Probably drugs, cash, weapons or maybe dead body. I quickly jumped into a taxi to the pedeast border back to USA.

[Travv]

Did the car look expensive or have bumper stickers or something else that stuck out? When I notice Americans getting pulled over, it is usually due to driving a flashy car like a white SUV that some Tijuana Cop probably covets and wants a closer look at his "dream car". On my last pullover by a Tijuana cop, he was asking questions like, how much did you pay for this jeep, is it gas or diesel, etc. , so I was pretty sure about why I got pulled over. Mexicans in general like "cuatramotos", so driving a nice 4 x 4 alone might be enough for a "speeding ticket". To be fair, CHP I believe does the same thing, but they probably target Ferraris just because they look "fast".


It does seem a bit. I can never quite figure why they stop some people often times. This is another reason why I avoid driving Tijuana. Driving a American car in Tijuana is simply another unneeded reason for law enforcement to hassle you in Mexico.

[Captain Solo]

Of course different policias target different cars suspected of illegal activities, or just fancy, exotic cars which mean drivers have money. The Coahuila stretch has very disproportionately high patrols by Army, Marinas, Polcicias Estatale, Policias Municipal in cars and on motorbikes, not to mention the foot patrols and undercovered agents. Outside of Coahuila, policia patrols are rarely seen, if ever. WTF?

Due to a large population of Mexican driving California cars with expired registrations to avoid paying taxes, in the day time I see Tijuana policias pull over a lot of older sedans with Mexican-looking drivers. They will impound unregistered vehicles. So make sure yours have current registrations.

At night the policia assholes would target mongers leaving La Zona Norte for shakedowns. They know mongers have money and would demand to search pockets and wallets to steal cash. Hold your wallet, cash and all valuables in hands while they rifle through your pockets and they won't be able to steal anything. Their jobs are to search cars and individuals for evidence of crimes, like drugs or guns. If the bros have not done anything illegal, there is nothing for them to fear. Just hold your valuables so they can't steal.

A few times a month on Friday nights at midnight, Policias would set up alcohol check points on Benito Juarez, corner of Negrete, the choke point before the street splinters 3 ways back to the US and Tecate. They would talk to you to see any slurring in speech. Of course I told them I never drink beer or liquor. I went through it 4 or 5 times, only had to do the breath test oncce and passed.

CHP also targets cars coming back from Mexico for drunk driving. I had to do a walking alcohol test once and passed, but was still nailed for speed.

I have been driving into Tijuana for the past 6,7 years, also in Cancun, Cabos and PV on tours. I feel safe enough. The bros should not worry too much about policias or accidents driving in Tijuana. Not any worse than downtown LA.

Did the car look expensive or have bumper stickers or something else that stuck out? When I notice Americans getting pulled over, it is usually due to driving a flashy car like a white SUV that some Tijuana Cop probably covets and wants a closer look at his "dream car". On my last pullover by a Tijuana cop, he was asking questions like, how much did you pay for this jeep, is it gas or diesel, etc. , so I was pretty sure about why I got pulled over. Mexicans in general like "cuatramotos", so driving a nice 4 x 4 alone might be enough for a "speeding ticket". To be fair, CHP I believe does the same thing, but they probably target Ferraris just because they look "fast".

[Hargow20]

I rarely if ever see CHP pulling cars over at night in the south bay at night. Now perhaps that's because I take I-5 back to Pt Loma.


Of course different policias target different cars suspected of illegal activities, or just fancy, exotic cars which mean drivers have money. The Coahuila stretch has very disproportionately high patrols by Army, Marinas, Polcicias Estatale, Policias Municipal in cars and on motorbikes, not to mention the foot patrols and undercovered agents. Outside of Coahuila, policia patrols are rarely seen, if ever. WTF?

Due to a large population of Mexican driving California cars with expired registrations to avoid paying taxes, in the day time I see Tijuana policias pull over a lot of older sedans with Mexican-looking drivers. They will impound unregistered vehicles. So make sure yours have current registrations.

At night the policia assholes would target mongers leaving La Zona Norte for shakedowns. They know mongers have money and would demand to search pockets and wallets to steal cash. Hold your wallet, cash and all valuables in hands while they rifle through your pockets and they won't be able to steal anything. Their jobs are to search cars and individuals for evidence of crimes, like drugs or guns. If the bros have not done anything illegal, there is nothing for them to fear. Just hold your valuables so they can't steal.

A few times a month on Friday nights at midnight, Policias would set up alcohol check points on Benito Juarez, corner of Negrete, the choke point before the street splinters 3 ways back to the US and Tecate. They would talk to you to see any slurring in speech. Of course I told them I never drink beer or liquor. I went through it 4 or 5 times, only had to do the breath test oncce and passed.

CHP also targets cars coming back from Mexico for drunk driving. I had to do a walking alcohol test once and passed, but was still nailed for speed.

I have been driving into Tijuana for the past 6,7 years, also in Cancun, Cabos and PV on tours. I feel safe enough. The bros should not worry too much about policias or accidents driving in Tijuana. Not any worse than downtown LA.

Did the car look expensive or have bumper stickers or something else that stuck out? When I notice Americans getting pulled over, it is usually due to driving a flashy car like a white SUV that some Tijuana Cop probably covets and wants a closer look at his "dream car". On my last pullover by a Tijuana cop, he was asking questions like, how much did you pay for this jeep, is it gas or diesel, etc. , so I was pretty sure about why I got pulled over. Mexicans in general like "cuatramotos", so driving a nice 4 x 4 alone might be enough for a "speeding ticket". To be fair, CHP I believe does the same thing, but they probably target Ferraris just because they look "fast".

[BearBare]

I rarely if ever see CHP pulling cars over at night in the south bay at night. Now perhaps that's because I take I-5 back to Pt Loma.I lived in Point Loma for about 3 years of Zona Norte travels and never saw them on 5 either. Now I live inland and take 805. Still none. Only time I've ever seen LEO really after anyone in last 4-5 years was a table set up at PedEast that was asking anyone under 25 in appearance to show their ID before going to the carousels and into Mexico.

[Muncher8888]

CHP also targets cars coming back from Mexico for drunk driving. I had to do a walking alcohol test once and passed, but was still nailed for speed.Any of you bro's get a ticket I can highly recommend Mr. Ticket. Mitch is the founder and his co atty Abel are both awesome. Can they absolutely promise you will get off? No. Will they do their best and have they been fantastic for me? Yes many times. $99 base fee and you sign off so they are your rep. Don't even have to show up at traffic court. In the event the case is lost, you retain all traffic school rights.

http://www.mrtrafficticket.com/

[Captain Solo]

I got pulled over so many times on I5 and I805. The confluence of I805 merging into I5 is heavily monitored by CHP. Don't know how CHP monitor high speed or reckless cars, may be with radars, speed cameras or drivers on freeways.

A few times CHP would let me go with warnings, probably due to the flight jacket I was wearing. A few times I could see CHP patrol cars scurrying to catch up with me, so I just let off the accelerator to slow down to legal limit without braking. The officers would catch up and look me over with disgust but could do nothing hehe. Once a motorcycle CHP followed me on I5 North at my 5 o'clock blind spot for 10 miles, waiting for me to make a mistake to bust me, but I sensed danger and was careful to stuck to all traffic rules. Man, It was scary but exciting, like flying a fighter jet in combat, looking out for enemies to crawl up behind and ram a big heat-seeking missile up your asses hehe.

Twice a San Diego attorney, Elizabeth Aronson, got the tickets dismissed. She only charges $50 to fight speeding and $100 for reckless driving. Look her up.

But CHP keeps records. The last 2 times Liz could not dismiss or reduce the charges. The Ticket Clinic in LOS Angeles is a bunch of useless crooks. Local governments are going all out to raise revenues with traffic tickets. I was in court when I guy was ticketed by Garden Grove PD for discharging flaming materials in public. He flicked cigarette ash out of his window and got nailed for over $500 in fines and fees, WTF?

I kept telling my new wingman to slow down below 85 on I5/805 or he will get a reckless driving ticket. One night he passed right in between 2 big rig trucks doing 3-digit speed. The car could have been sucked in and crushed under the big rigs' wheels. This guy has not seen some horrific accidents so he has no fear. I want to stay alive and unbroken to vist my pretty chicas every week hehe.

I rarely if ever see CHP pulling cars over at night in the south bay at night. Now perhaps that's because I take I-5 back to Pt Loma.

[Captain Solo]

Wednesday night 10 PM on Coahuila across from Adelita, a policia patrol car stopped a brand new $100 K black Maserati Quattroporte with Mexico's plate. It was the first time I saw an exotic car with Mexico plate in Tijuana; most are hand-me-down, worn out old clunkers. We were walking in front of Adelita on the way to check out Chicago. 2 Policia guys had the young Mexican driver out of the car talking, checking papers. My wingman said he wanted to see how the scene work out.

We went to Chicago then walked back to HK. 15 minutes later Policia was still taking their time talking to the Mexican driver. They asked him to pop the trunk for search. The guy looked extremely nervous, shuffling quickly back to the cockpit to release the trunk. Unless the guy is Garlos Sim's son, what kinds of work does he do in La Zona Norte to afford a brand-new $100 K Maserati? Looked like policia either busted a couple kilos contraband in the trunk or took a huge mordida to let the guy go. In the past, policias were afraid of taking bribes in that area due to mulitple security cameras filming. We kept walking to avoid risks of shoot outs ect. Did not know how it turned out.

On the way back on Sentri lane, the young and pretty CBP spinner with her pony tail asked us to pop the trunk and what we were doing in Mexico; the answer was, " Visiting friends. " She asked us again sarcastically, " Visiting again this week?" She could see in her computer our crew had crossed into Mexico frequently, sometimes twice a week. We said we just love our Mexican friends, hehe. Perhaps she was jealous that she was working for Mr. Trump without pay, while we were having good times in Mexico?

Is it against the laws to ask your pretty CBP agents for dates?

[Long Don Silva]

Saturday night, shortly before midnight in the cab on the way from the border to the ZN, the police flagged me down at a checkpoint. They asked the driver where he's going and he told them La Coahuila. When the police looked at me, I spoke loud and clearly, "Hola, señor. " Asked me where I was going, "La Coahuila. " I wanted to make it clear to them that I'm not any ol' pinche guero and they'd be able to have a productive communication with me in their own language.

Told me to step out the car, asked me for ID and what I do for work. Answered, they took my passport and told me to put my hands on the trunk. Fortunately, from all the reading I've done on this forum, I already had all my cash in my left hand and just put both hands face down on the trunk with my left hand on top of my cash. One of the police asked me what is that and I told him it's my money. The other asked me all the same questions the first guy asked. He proceeded to hand me my passport and tell me that we're all set.

[ScottHall]

Yikes, I've never been pulled out of a cab before. It sounds like these guys are getting desperate, just fishing without a pole. Anything American is gong to get hassled.

[Travv]

There are Zona Nortes in every American city where men pay for sex. They are called divorce courts and the lawyers and ex-wives will decide how much you will pay. In the American Zona Nortes, men pay alimony, sometimes for life. As I tell divorced guys, the difference between divorce lawyers and Zona Norte chicas is not very much. They both will screw you for money, but you will enjoy it a lot more in Tijuana!


This is not normal behavior to gringos in the rest of Mexico. I watch many gringo you tubers living in Mexico and not having this stuff done. The whole zona Norte has attracted everyone's attention, the policia, federales, it's green light to bother gringos, I doubt North America has another two small street area as populated with so many machine guns and bullet proof vests. USA needs to just have its own zona Norte already.

[Travv]

Excellent Youtube to watch before visiting Mexico or other areas with lots of muggers. Video shows actual muggings and beatings on video and shows how to identify muggers spotting you and "Interviewing" you for an attack. May save your life, so I recommend watching this repeatedly until you can quickly recognize danger signs that you are about to be attacked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPbCw9pV90c

[BearBare]

You should just expect it. Walking down the sidewalk. Walking down the street. In a cab. Just standing next to a Taco cart. It happens often, you just may have dodged the odds awhile. On a now defunct Tijuana forum there were a few who were certain the cab drivers in front of HK were in the fix with the policia and signaled them (lights off at night, flash Hi beams, etc) and would only hail cabs around the corner. I was searched 3 times in under 15 minutes and 1/4 mile of lawfully walking down the sidewalk (walked from Alley to Tijuana Ped bridge over Tijuana river).

Around Late Nov. Mid December its nearly 100% guarantee after 5 pm you will either be stopped or watch someone get stopped and searched, esp on Ped Bridge over River that leads to El Chapparral, aka PedWest. As stated, you need to train your muscle instinct to grab money first the moment you see a Tijuana police car approaching. Don't change your gait, just be ready. Money first, phone second, and then ID. Keep phone and money in front. Have your money consolidated if you want to keep all of it. Orphaned bills (money not in hand and with main stash) is likely to disappear. Remember your phone is money.

I've had an attempted mugging on sidewalk next to HK, stairwell of Ped Bridge over Tijuana river and on Coahulia / Revo sidewalk. The main takeaway from that video is this: all MAAM need to be 100% locked on your radar when within 20-30 feet. MAAM is military aged adult males. If they can throw a haymaker or pull a trigger accurately, they are a threat.

I usually handle by becoming the aggressor but this isn't everyones cup of tea. I have a preset notion of positioning and tactics I plan based on opportunity and number / size of threats. The best advice is to avoid. If I come off Coahulia onto Revo and its deserted, I watch for the emergence of a group of males. If seen, turn around and take Constitucion (west side, away from cuantos / drug dealers).

If you do decide to square up, "if the fight is fair, your tactics suck. " Control timing, space and fight dirty as hell. My #1 goal is to end it as fast and brutally as possible. I know its probably going to be read as posturing but I will firmly tell you from experience you can often guide a situation by becoming the aggressor. Just always position so a wall is behind you or keep an eye on your flanks.

Use your advantages. If you're 200+ you outweigh 95% of Most younger Mexican nationals. I had one mugger try to herd me and I took him backwards down stairs as I used my weight to pin him. The mugger with him (likely US deportee as his English had no accent) was my size so I punched him before he had a chance to close the gap and assault me first.

The Tijuana police will be useless and if they pseudo-arrest the guy, the ratero will be on the street again about the time you're are out of view.

[Orlanr]

17 Murders this month. https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/01/22/tijuana-17-murders-in-28-hours-153-in-january/?fbclid=IwAR0Sj9OizOSFaSv7Rga_f8IbjsePc6rw8E6knQ0_Q-SojkJE0DJKR1r8P1w.

[Aviator400]

You should just expect it. Walking down the sidewalk. Walking down the street. In a cab. Just standing next to a Taco cart. It happens often, you just may have dodged the odds awhile. On a now defunct Tijuana forum there were a few who were certain the cab drivers in front of HK were in the fix with the policia and signaled them (lights off at night, flash Hi beams, etc) and would only hail cabs around the corner. I was searched 3 times in under 15 minutes and 1/4 mile of lawfully walking down the sidewalk (walked from Alley to Tijuana Ped bridge over Tijuana river).

Around Late Nov. Mid December its nearly 100% guarantee after 5 pm you will either be stopped or watch someone get stopped and searched, esp on Ped Bridge over River that leads to El Chapparral, aka PedWest. As stated, you need to train your muscle instinct to grab money first the moment you see a Tijuana police car approaching. Don't change your gait, just be ready. Money first, phone second, and then ID. Keep phone and money in front. Have your money consolidated if you want to keep all of it. Orphaned bills (money not in hand and with main stash) is likely to disappear. Remember your phone is money.

I've had an attempted mugging on sidewalk next to HK, stairwell of Ped Bridge over Tijuana river and on Coahulia / Revo sidewalk. The main takeaway from that video is this: all MAAM need to be 100% locked on your radar when within 20-30 feet. MAAM is military aged adult males. If they can throw a haymaker or pull a trigger accurately, they are a threat.

I usually handle by becoming the aggressor but this isn't everyones cup of tea. I have a preset notion of positioning and tactics I plan based on opportunity and number / size of threats. The best advice is to avoid. If I come off Coahulia onto Revo and its deserted, I watch for the emergence of a group of males. If seen, turn around and take Constitucion (west side, away from cuantos / drug dealers).

If you do decide to square up, "if the fight is fair, your tactics suck. " Control timing, space and fight dirty as hell. My #1 goal is to end it as fast and brutally as possible. I know its probably going to be read as posturing but I will firmly tell you from experience you can often guide a situation by becoming the aggressor. Just always position so a wall is behind you or keep an eye on your flanks.

Use your advantages. If you're 200+ you outweigh 95% of Most younger Mexican nationals. I had one mugger try to herd me and I took him backwards down stairs as I used my weight to pin him. The mugger with him (likely US deportee as his English had no accent) was my size so I punched him before he had a chance to close the gap and assault me first.

The Tijuana police will be useless and if they pseudo-arrest the guy, the ratero will be on the street again about the time you're are out of view.Enjoyed reading this. Decent advice with a touch of humor.

Walked that route often, always on high alert and only in daylight.

After dark or if the hair on the back of my neck is standing up, I take a cab, which is not 100% preventing a stop or attack, as you have pointed out, but I have not had any issues when riding in a cab or the limo.

[StRobert]

Article from "The San Diego Union Tribune".

"Meth and murder: A new kind of drug war has made Tijuana one of the deadliest cities on Earth" link https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/la-fg-mexico-tijuana-drug-violence-20190130-htmlstory.html?fbclid=IwAR3xGmC_iVap2EhPtZ6OlxdXOg7XjDtEOEI5qOh4912K8L6guOG0OQrt30g.

[Travv]

Ran into a deportee (From his good English) who tried to Interview me around dusk when I was coming back from dinner on Revolucion near the Kentucky Fried Buches restaurant. Asked me a question, tried to get close, started demanding money, then I demanded that he "Dejame in Paz" and had my pepper spray ready to go in my right hand while motioning him to stay back with my left. Once he saw I had the pepper spray with my thumb on the trigger, he stopped following me. Recommend guys buy a cheap pepper spray in the USA for around $6 to 9 bucks. Once the Rateros notice you have it, they back off fast. Keep it in your hand in your pocked in Ratero areas. If they jump you, you'll need it fast. If they speak good English, be on the alert, because they probably got deported for committing crimes in the USA.

[Jackie888]

Article from "The San Diego Union Tribune".

"Meth and murder: A new kind of drug war has made Tijuana one of the deadliest cities on Earth" link https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/la-fg-mexico-tijuana-drug-violence-20190130-htmlstory.html?fbclid=IwAR3xGmC_iVap2EhPtZ6OlxdXOg7XjDtEOEI5qOh4912K8L6guOG0OQrt30g.I am sure a couple of the Chicas in HK are on meth bases on their fuck up teeth and bony faces. And I've had some chicas confessed to me that they use meth. I believe that the guys yelling "quarto" in the alley are the street distributors. How unfortunate that they are likely protected as the police ignores them while they peddle meth publicly. It would have been a pleasure to see one of these dealers slip and fall under a passing truck.

[DramaFree11]

Article from "The San Diego Union Tribune".

"Meth and murder: A new kind of drug war has made Tijuana one of the deadliest cities on Earth" link https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/la-fg-mexico-tijuana-drug-violence-20190130-htmlstory.html?fbclid=IwAR3xGmC_iVap2EhPtZ6OlxdXOg7XjDtEOEI5qOh4912K8L6guOG0OQrt30g.Good report, confirmed my thoughts. I have changed my behavior in Tijuana now, with the increased crime, I still think it is safe during the day, but at night, getting more dangerous by the day. I use to walk back and forth from the Casino to HK, now I think twice. Also, I am way more careful eating at the food stands at night if I even go. If I do go, I stand on the side or back by the workers, I just do not feel as comfortable as before.

I just hang out a HK. I use to take cabs, but now I am switching to Uber.

Thank you, for the information.

[BearBare]

Guys in the alley are not truly protected. One was murdered by Eduardo motel by his worksite: cascades-Azul porch next to HK alley exit. It was his "day off from working" according to locals who knew him. He was a known dealer. Anyway, yes this confirms what I saw but I figured it was with Cartel blessing.

I would suggest double checking legality of pepper spray in Tijuana. Seems I remember police treating it like carrying a knife.

[Travv]

Darinka Rodríguez 24 MAR 2018 - 01:58 CET.

El intento de violación a una joven poblana ha creado un debate sobre el uso de este instrumento para la protección personal.

"Hay un vacío jurídico en la regulacióand a estos instrumentos no solo en cuanto al uso de la poblacióand, sino de LOS cuerpos de seguridad policíaca", dice a Verne vía telefónica Armando Rodríguez Luna, coordinador de proyectos del Colectivo de Análisis de la Seguridad con Democracia (Casede) . . . El artículo 179 del seeódigo Penal de Puebla no menciona al gas pimienta como un instrumento prohibido. . . ".

In a nutshell, Mexican women want to have pepper spray. Different states like Puebla and Mexico City have different laws, but pepper spray is not a firearm or knife which appears to not be mentioned or prohibited by Puebla law. Another Puebla authority claimed it was. It is listed as being for sale in Tijuana here "Encuentra Gas Pimienta en Tijuana en Mercado Libre México. Descubre la mejor forma de comprar online. . . " Seems legal to buy in Tijuana, and certainly scares off Rateros. For guys who are prime targets for muggers. Women, small guys and disabled, seems like a good idea. Would you rather get beaten and robbed or get shaken down by the Policia for having it?

https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2018/03/23/mexico/1521841565_605654.html


Guys in the alley are not truly protected. One was murdered by Eduardo motel by his worksite: cascades-Azul porch next to HK alley exit. It was his "day off from working" according to locals who knew him. He was a known dealer. Anyway, yes this confirms what I saw but I figured it was with Cartel blessing.

I would suggest double checking legality of pepper spray in Tijuana. Seems I remember police treating it like carrying a knife.

[StRobert]

Article from "The San Diego Union Tribune".

"Meth and murder: A new kind of drug war has made Tijuana one of the deadliest cities on Earth" link https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/la-fg-mexico-tijuana-drug-violence-20190130-htmlstory.html?fbclid=IwAR3xGmC_iVap2EhPtZ6OlxdXOg7XjDtEOEI5qOh4912K8L6guOG0OQrt30g." Local and state officials estimate that up to 90% of the city's homicides are linked to local drug sales ". "It's sad to watch them not manage the problem and just wait for them to kill themselves," said Jaime Arredondo, a researcher at the British Columbia Center on Substance Use who has spent years studying Tijuana's local drug trade.

The city's police chief, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, has said repeatedly that tourists and most residents shouldn't worry about the violence.

"Those who are dying are young people and criminals who get into a world where they know that part of the risk of that business is. That they will lose their lives," he said.

"We have to understand the city is not on fire," he said. " . BTW A little comforting in this report is that tourists shouldn't worry about the violence. A little similar situation is in downtown San Francisco (Tenderloin section). A lot of drug users and a lot of drug sellers on the corners but there is no violence like in Tijuana.

[Aviator400]

I would suggest double checking legality of pepper spray in Tijuana. Seems I remember police treating it like carrying a knife.I don't think carrying pepper spray is a legal problem. If it is, it is ignored. A HK chica I spent the night with on my last visit showed me her can of pepper spray, which was fairly good sized. She lives about 20 minutes by cab from HK. One night while on the way home, the cab driver started to take her to a remote area away from her home. She got scared, hosed him down with the pepper spray, and ran. She left him in a lot of pain.

[BearBare]

From my experiences in Tijuana, your likelihood to be in a situation where pepper spray is useful is nearly 0. The most recent muggings were over too fast or they came up from behind for a sleeper hold lock. So yes you might use it but I just haven't personally had many instances. I often walk and walk large areas from Plaza Rio, through CostCo, to PedEast, PedWest and over through Norte Zona (staying east of NH except for trips to veterinarian by 2nd and Gonzalez Ortega before 7 pm).

Shakedowns however by the police are extremely often. I once forgot about a mini K-bar knife that I routinely carried after 3 stints in Afghanistan (and survived many searches undetected in the Middle East) and immediately got it off my person.

I asked the policia during one search if pepper spray was ok and he said no. You can carry it knowing the potential consequences. I just wanted the casual reader to know that this is potentially going to lead to a policia tour of the Zona in the backseat of a cruiser for either a bribe or possible judge appearance. I've had this a few times just for walking in the street. When he asked why I was in the street I pointed to the cuantos guy outside Motel Ceci (across from Playboi bar) and said "because you can't seem to stop the drug dealers, and the sidewalks are blocked by their bikes. ".


Darinka Rodrguez 24 MAR 2018 - 01:58 CET.

El intento de violacin a una joven poblana ha creado un debate sobre el uso de este instrumento para la proteccin personal.

"Hay un vaco jurdico en la regulaciand a estos instrumentos no solo en cuanto al uso de la poblaciand, sino de LOS cuerpos de seguridad policaca", dice a Verne va telefnica Armando Rodrguez Luna, coordinador de proyectos del Colectivo de Anlisis de la Seguridad con Democracia (Casede) . . . El artculo 179 del seedigo Penal de Puebla no menciona al gas pimienta como un instrumento prohibido. . . ".

[Captain Solo]

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27990143/ns/world_news-americas/t/killed-tijuana-over-days/#. XFSajFxKjcs.

TIJUANA, Mexico — At least 37 people were killed over three days in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, including four children caught in shootouts and nine men found decapitated, the state attorney general said Monday.

More than 200 people have been killed in the past month in Tijuana, where officials say rival cells of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel have been waging a bloody battle across the border from San Diego.

Tijuana's police chief was fired Monday after the wave of violence. A statement from the office of Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos says Alberto Capella was replaced by his second-in-command, army Cmdr. Julian Leyzaola.

No reason was given for Capella's abrupt dismissal.

Baja California state Attorney General Rommel Moreno said three police officers were among the nine decapitated men, whose bodies and heads were discovered in a poor Tijuana neighborhood. Their police credentials were found stuffed in their mouths.

Police were investigating whether some of the 37 deaths between Saturday and Monday were part of a retaliatory spree sparked by the killing of a 25-year-old woman believed to be a drug trafficker's girlfriend, Moreno said.

He said interviews with families members indicated that 80 percent of the victims had been involved in drug dealing.

[Ctytek]

See this: http://www.discoverbaja.com/go/crossing-border-mexico/.

"Items Not Allowed in Mexico:

Guns or ammunition. Guns are illegal in Mexico. You will be put in jail for having one.

Pepper spray.

Whether it's ignored or not on locals is irrelevant. If you get stopped and searched by Tijuana cops, and they find a pepper spray on you. You've just broken the law, and have given them a solid reason to arrest and extort you. People are free to decide if carrying spray is worth this risk, but they should know the correct facts.


I don't think carrying pepper spray is a legal problem. If it is, it is ignored. A HK chica I spent the night with on my last visit showed me her can of pepper spray, which was fairly good sized. She lives about 20 minutes by cab from HK. One night while on the way home, the cab driver started to take her to a remote area away from her home. She got scared, hosed him down with the pepper spray, and ran. She left him in a lot of pain.

[Hargow20]

Mexico will form a national guard to help battle the drug war on a local level. Until Mexico roots out corruption it will hard to end drug problem in Mexico & Tijuana. Tijuana was also cited as one of the problem cities in Mexico as well. It is simply ridiculous that the drug dealers are allowed to sell drug openly in the Zona. I seem yelling out Quanto's open on Constitucion. The only way to weed out corruption is have independent international observers in Mexico. Unfortunately this probably will not happen.

https://enewspaper.sandiegouniontribune.com/desktop/sdut/default.aspx?pubid=ee84df93-f3c1-463c-a82f-1ab095a198ca

[ClamSlammer]

Anyone who asks you a question on the street in Tijuana is likely 90% trying to rob you. They got me with 18 year old girl because she was dressed conservatively and a chance to speak to a cute girl not charging me money was great. Till 20 seconds her posse was taking me out. Essentially, don't stop walking. The second you stop moving it's like watching lions catch the week prey on nature channel.You say her "posse was taking me out?" Like on a date? You got assaulted? What do you mean by that? Anyhow, stating that 90% of the people who ask you a question on the street is trying to rob you, well that's laughable. Maybe 2%-3% are looking to rob you. But the other 98% are either trying to sell you something, asking for a tip for doing bullshit, or have a legitimate question that they want answered.

[Dcrist0527]

You say her "posse was taking me out?" Like on a date? You got assaulted? What do you mean by that? Anyhow, stating that 90% of the people who ask you a question on the street is trying to rob you, well that's laughable. Maybe 2%-3% are looking to rob you. But the other 98% are either trying to sell you something, asking for a tip for doing bullshit, or have a legitimate question that they want answered.Agreed. This is just more fear mongering from the guy who lives in 5 different locations simultaneously. And who has sworn off Tijuana but still claims expert status.

More importantly, I think the advice is, if you are approached by an English-speaking guy, be wary. But Clam is exactly right. Most of them are looking for a buck or trying to sell you something. In any case, they should be avoided. Yes, the rateros work in pairs or groups. And like always, your guard should be up. But 90% is just not even close to reality.

[StRobert]

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27990143/ns/world_news-americas/t/killed-tijuana-over-days/#. XFSajFxKjcs.

TIJUANA, Mexico At least 37 people were killed over three days in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, including four children caught in shootouts and nine men found decapitated, the state attorney general said Monday.

More than 200 people have been killed in the past month in Tijuana, where officials say rival cells of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel have been waging a bloody battle across the border from San Diego.

Tijuana's police chief was fired Monday after the wave of violence. A statement from the office of Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos says Alberto Capella was replaced by his second-in-command, army Cmdr. Julian Leyzaola.

No reason was given for Capella's abrupt dismissal.

Baja California state Attorney General Rommel Moreno said three police officers were among the nine decapitated men, whose bodies and heads were discovered in a poor Tijuana neighborhood. Their police credentials were found stuffed in their mouths.

Police were investigating whether some of the 37 deaths between Saturday and Monday were part of a retaliatory spree sparked by the killing of a 25-year-old woman believed to be a drug trafficker's girlfriend, Moreno said.

He said interviews with families members indicated that 80 percent of the victims had been involved in drug dealing.But yesterday Friday evening Hong Kong club was unusually full. I suppose the crime in Tijuana will not stop the mongers from visiting Zona Norte. Maybe only a nuclear explosion or big earthquake will stop mongers from visiting Hong Kong and Adelita clubs. Hehehe!

[ClamSlammer]

But yesterday Friday evening Hong Kong club was unusually full. I suppose the crime in Tijuana will not stop the mongers from visiting Zona Norte. Maybe only a nuclear explosion or big earthquake will stop mongers from visiting Hong Kong and Adelita clubs. Hehehe!That NBC news article is over 10 years old.

[Baxter Slade]

But yesterday Friday evening Hong Kong club was unusually full. I suppose the crime in Tijuana will not stop the mongers from visiting Zona Norte. Maybe only a nuclear explosion or big earthquake will stop mongers from visiting Hong Kong and Adelita clubs. Hehehe!Not saying Tijuana is exactly safe but that story the Captain posted is over 10 years old.

Maybe he is trying to spread fear so he can have all the pussy to himself. It aint working Capt. Like the OP said HK was packed.

[TomJackin]

Not saying Tijuana is exactly safe but that story the Captain posted is over 10 years old.

Maybe he is trying to spread fear so he can have all the pussy to himself. It aint working Capt. Like the OP said HK was packed.What a useless post from over ten years ago; I consider it pointless and the OP is pointless as usual.

HK was packed last night!

[Ctytek]

That NBC news article is over 10 years old.LOL. Another gem from clueless. Next in news. OJ Simpson is being pursued by LAPD in a highway Ford Bronco chase.

[StRobert]

Not saying Tijuana is exactly safe but that story the Captain posted is over 10 years old.

Maybe he is trying to spread fear so he can have all the pussy to himself. It aint working Capt. Like the OP said HK was packed.I read this post Friday afternoon before visiting Zona. Wtf 37 murders in 3 days! After visiting Hong Kong I was afraid to go to the Monte Carlo restaurant on the other side of the street, I only took a taxi to the border immediately. Captain Solo, please check the date before the post next time. Here is a link two video from the 2008 shooting in Tijuana. Police against cartel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsws9y-Uwgc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzXqFe5M5v0.

[Aviator400]

See this: http://www.discoverbaja.com/go/crossing-border-mexico/.

"Items Not Allowed in Mexico:

Guns or ammunition. Guns are illegal in Mexico. You will be put in jail for having one.

Pepper spray.

Whether it's ignored or not on locals is irrelevant. If you get stopped and searched by Tijuana cops, and they find a pepper spray on you. You've just broken the law, and have given them a solid reason to arrest and extort you. People are free to decide if carrying spray is worth this risk, but they should know the correct facts.Here is another take on it, indicating that it is legal in Mexico. https://legalbeagle.com/6697820-mexico-pepper-spray-laws.html.

YMMV.

[ScatManDoo]

I read this post Friday afternoon before visiting Zona. Wtf 37 murders in 3 days! After visiting Hong Kong I was afraid to go to the Monte Carlo restaurant on the other side of the street, I only took a taxi to the border immediately. Captain Solo, please check the date before the post next time. Here is a link two video from the 2008 shooting in Tijuana. Police against cartel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsws9y-Uwgc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzXqFe5M5v0.It is sad that you were not able to fully enjoy your visit to La Zona because you became of victim of this board's greatest dispenser of misinformation.

[TomJackin]

I read this post Friday afternoon before visiting Zona. Wtf 37 murders in 3 days! After visiting Hong Kong I was afraid to go to the Monte Carlo restaurant on the other side of the street, I only took a taxi to the border immediately. Captain Solo, please check the date before the post next time. Here is a link two video from the 2008 shooting in Tijuana. Police against cartel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsws9y-Uwgc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzXqFe5M5v0.It's best not to read any of his bullshit / made up / my bro told me posts!

[Ctytek]

Good luck convincing a corrupt Tijuana cop your pepper spray is "civilian grade", as he's slapping handcuffs on you, on the way into the back of his cruiser. For 0. 01% chance of a spray deterring a mugging. It's not worth the risk. My opinion of course.


Here is another take on it, indicating that it is legal in Mexico. https://legalbeagle.com/6697820-mexico-pepper-spray-laws.html.

YMMV.

[ScatManDoo]

Good luck convincing a corrupt Tijuana cop your pepper spray is "civilian grade", as he's slapping handcuffs on you, on the way into the back of his cruiser. For 0. 01% chance of a spray deterring a mugging. It's not worth the risk. My opinion of course.After more than 15 years of visiting Tijuana, I am very fortunate that I have never been mugged or assaulted. I have had so many encounters with Tijuana policia stopping me inside LZ that I've lost count (more than a dozen).

I agree 100% with Ctytek that carrying mace would be a huge problem during a typical Policia stop.

Posters here have provided two good links from what I believe to be two different, yet credible sources (not ten-year old articles). These two websites completely disagree with each other over the legality of carrying pepper spray in Tijuana.

But common sense should tell you that carrying pepper spray in Tijuana is a very bad idea.

[Aviator400]

Good luck convincing a corrupt Tijuana cop your pepper spray is "civilian grade", as he's slapping handcuffs on you, on the way into the back of his cruiser. For 0. 01% chance of a spray deterring a mugging. It's not worth the risk. My opinion of course.Originally, I was telling what I thought was an interesting story about a local girl who managed to defend herself with pepper spray. I agree with you; it is not worth the risk. It exposes a foreigner to a shake down. Just trying to provide factual information. That said, it is Mexico where facts are not facts. Developing your spider sense and avoiding potentially dangerous situations is much more important than preparing for a confrontation.

[Travv]

The most likely result will be that the policia takes it for himself and asks for a $20 mordida. There is another article from July 2018 entitled "Ante Ola de Violencia en Tijuana, Regidora regala gas Pimienta. . . " In a nutshell, a PRI ward heeler is giving out free pepper spray and the Tijuana Policia is giving "cursos" in how to use it effectively. Kind of hard to argue it is illegal in Tijuana when the Tijuana policia are giving classes to the public on how to use it on rateros. If you get hassled by the Policia and they want to take it, just tell them you will get more at the Tijuana City Hall from the PRI Regidora who is handing it out for free.


Originally, I was telling what I thought was an interesting story about a local girl who managed to defend herself with pepper spray. I agree with you; it is not worth the risk. It exposes a foreigner to a shake down. Just trying to provide factual information. That said, it is Mexico where facts are not facts. Developing your spider sense and avoiding potentially dangerous situations is much more important than preparing for a confrontation.

[Travv]

The problem for the Tijuana policia trying to shake you down for mordida and your pepper spray is that in an article last year, a PRI Regidora was giving away free pepper spray and arranging classes with the Tijuana Preventative policia to train citizens on how to protect themselves from Rateros. So it seems to me, that if the Policia tries to make a big deal out of it, just tell them you will sign up for the next free class given by the Tijuana policia on how to use the free pepper spray being given out by the PRI. LOL The real question is whether you would rather be shaken down by the Tijuana policia for $20 or by the Rateros for your wallet full of cash and cell phone. I'd prefer dealing with the Tijuana policia. The article about the free pepper spray and Tijuana policia classes was: "Ante de Ola de Violencia en Tijuana, Regidora (de PRI) regala gas pimienta."


Originally, I was telling what I thought was an interesting story about a local girl who managed to defend herself with pepper spray. I agree with you; it is not worth the risk. It exposes a foreigner to a shake down. Just trying to provide factual information. That said, it is Mexico where facts are not facts. Developing your spider sense and avoiding potentially dangerous situations is much more important than preparing for a confrontation.

[ScottHall]

Are these guys even real cops? Like if you needed help, would they even help you? Or if there was a crime taking place, would they even care about stopping it? Or are these guys just shakedown artists looking for the next score.

[Travv]

Well, they make less than security guards make in California. Starting pay is around $4000 pesos a month, or $200, so like many jobs in Mexico, they make more "on the side". You get to decide whether to pay mordida since they can make life difficult for you which is why if you speak Spanish you should know the phrase, "Necesito ver al Juez". Then the policia know they will have to explain themselves to a judge. Another option discussed in the forum is to get the contact info for the Tijuana Sindicatura aka Police Internal Affairs, so you can threaten the policia with calling Internal Affairs to complain. Or simply call the Tourist Police who are there to protect you from Rateros and the Municipal Police, possibly the same guys! LOL.

For a cynical and entertaining view, read the Ovid Demaris old book "Poso Del Mundo" on Tijuana corruption and police. A few years back, the Mexican federales confiscated the Tijuana policia force hand guns and gave them slingshots instead since they were so notorious for robbing tourists that the policia were no longer trusted to have pistols. This is why you should have pepper spray handy since the policia are questionable whether they would help you during a robbery by rateros. When I got mugged, afterwards the Tijuana cop I talked to told me to hide the wallet the thieves missed, possibly so the other cops there didn't know I still had my money, so an honest cop does possibly work for the Tijuana policia.


Are these guys even real cops? Like if you needed help, would they even help you? Or if there was a crime taking place, would they even care about stopping it? Or are these guys just shakedown artists looking for the next score.

[Captain Solo]

Meth and murder: A new kind of drug war has made Tijuana one of the deadliest cities on Earth.

"In the past, the body count was driven by powerful drug cartels battling over lucrative trafficking routes to the United States. Now the main cause is competition in a growing local drug trade, with low-level dealers sometimes dying over the right to sell drugs on a single street corner."

https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-tijuana-drug-violence-20190130-htmlstory.html

It seemed like everyone in Christian Castillo's life was getting killed or running from death.

Two neighbors on his block were gunned down, along with the taco vendor at the end of the street. Then came a childhood friend of Castillo's mother who had started selling drugs and was shot dead with her husband. Soon their son was executed, too.

Castillo, who until a few years ago held a good job at a Tijuana insurance company, didn't attend any of the funerals. He was too busy getting high and trying not to be killed next.

"It felt like death was following me," he said.

Tijuana, a city of 1.8 million that not long ago was celebrating a major reduction in violence, is in the grip of an unprecedented homicide crisis.

A record 2,518 people were killed here in 2018 — nearly seven times the total in 2012. With 140 killings per 100,000 people, Tijuana is now one of the deadliest cities in the world.

Across the border in San Diego, there were 34 homicides last year, or just over 2 killings per 100,000 people.

The root cause of the bloodshed is fundamentally different from previous iterations of violence in Tijuana.

In the past, the body count was driven by powerful drug cartels battling over lucrative trafficking routes to the United States. Now the main cause is competition in a growing local drug trade, with low-level dealers sometimes dying over the right to sell drugs on a single street corner.

Local and state officials estimate that up to 90% of the city's homicides are linked to local drug sales, and authorities say they are seeing a similar pattern in Juarez, Cancun and other Mexican cities at the forefront of a nationwide rise in killings, which have nearly doubled over the last three years.

"We're at war," said Jesus Escajadillo, a medical examiner at Tijuana's morgue, who one morning last summer was stooped over a tattooed body in a Lakers Jersey, using forceps to dig out the bullet that had destroyed the man's face. "We are living through a civil war. ".

Morgue workers burn incense, run air purifiers and dispense dust masks to visitors to battle the stench of death, but at times bodies pile up on the floor and the smell seeps outside, sickening neighbors down the street.

Top, cadavers lay stacked in a Tijuana morgue. Bottom left, the body of a man who was shot execution style lies on a table awaiting an autopsy. Bottom right, a notebook containing photographs of unidentified people — the majority of them homicide victims — is used by families searching for missing relatives. (Gary Coronado / LOS Angeles Times).

To understand the violence and its impact on the city, The Times conducted more than three dozen interviews over the last nine months with law enforcement officials, criminal justice experts, gang members, victims and their families.

They blamed one drug for the growing carnage: methamphetamine, or as it is known in Spanish, cristal.

At $2 a dose — and falling as manufacturers create cheaper production methods — it is sold by thousands of competing dealers scattered across the city, from the dusty slums to wealthier parts of town, such as Buena Vista, where Castillo grew up.

Castillo first tried meth as a teenager in San Diego, where he spent part of his childhood in the early aughts. His friends told him it would allow him to stay up playing video games longer.

'We are living through a civil war.'

Jesus Escajadillo, medical examiner.

By the time he returned to Tijuana in 2010 at age 18, cristal was starting to course through the streets, wrapped in little balloons or bits of plastic whose color signaled which cartel had produced it.

"The lady on the corner sells," Castillo said. "The guy you see standing on the sidewalk with his kid, he sells. ".

Soon he was using and dealing, being paid in meth — four doses for every six that he sold — and trading his clothes and furniture for more drugs. He grew gaunt and began hallucinating that he was being chased by monsters.

He was terrified that he might slip up and deal meth in the wrong place or smoke the drugs he was supposed to sell — both capital offenses in the drug industry here.

"I'm so used to people just dying because they don't pay, because they're selling without permission, because they owed money," Castillo said.

At 26, he had already lived longer than many — and he wondered how long his luck would last.

Play Video.

In 2018, a total of 2,518 people were killed in Tijuana — up from 493 four years earlier and the most ever recorded here. (Jessica Chen / LOS Angeles Times).

9/11 upends the drug market.

Twenty years ago, when Castillo was a kid, the cartels that operated in Tijuana followed an established code.

Drugs — mostly marijuana and cocaine back then — were peddled to tourists in the seedy red-light district or exported to the USA.

The buyers were gringos, not Mexicans. Tijuana was what experts refer to as a trampoline, a strategic border point used to vault drugs north.

Then, after 9/11, the deadliest attack by foreign terrorists on American soil, the USA Began to invest billions in border security.

New surveillance technologies and a doubling of the number of Border Patrol staff made it much harder to smuggle drugs into the USA.

Industrious traffickers responded by digging tunnels under the border and packing more vehicles with smaller shipments of drugs, knowing that many would get caught but some would get through.

Crucially, traffickers also began offloading some of their product in Tijuana, paying local affiliates in drugs, which wound up on the streets for sale.

Cartels still prized trafficking routes to the USA, but Tijuana emerged as a fledgling new market.

Its substance of choice was cristal, which the cartels began making in larger quantities when the USA Passed new restrictions on the sale of over-the-counter medicines that contain precursor chemicals.

Cristal offered a cheap high, and for many Tijuana residents who came from other parts of the country to work in the city's hundreds of low-slung border factories known as maquiladoras, a way to cope with the loneliness of living far from home.

Public health officials started noticing a rise in meth addiction about a decade ago. Today, nearly 3% of people in the state of Baja California, or about 100,000 people, say they have used the drug, more than any state in Mexico, according to a study by the federal government.

Dealers are aggressive in recruiting potential customers.

In the poor hillside neighborhood known as El Florido, men on street corners call out to Antonio Zambrano — a Catholic priest in a clerical collar — if he goes out after dark, offering hits of cristal.

'One gets used to living among the bullets.'

Antonio Zambrano, priest.

Two years ago, a junkie tried to burglarize Zambrano's humble parish and stabbed him with a screwdriver.

The Archdiocese of Tijuana offered him the opportunity to move to a new church, but Zambrano chose to stay, citing the community's "spiritual need. " Each month he presides over several drug-related funerals.

"One gets used to living among the bullets," he said.

A losing battle to save lives.

Sirens wailing, paramedic Juan Carlos Mendez sped through the barren foothills of eastern Tijuana, past garbage dumps and dirt roads lined with crumbling concrete shacks.

He turned his vehicle down a small lane, where a crowd pointed him toward an abandoned house covered in graffiti. Mendez grabbed his medical bag and broke into a sprint.

Behind the house, in a dusty alley, lay a young man dressed in shorts and dirty sneakers. Flies circled a pool of blood that had seeped from his head onto the sand.

"he's dead," Mendez said, panting.

As a supervisor with the Tijuana Red Cross, Mendez is trained to save lives. But in just over an hour that day last summer, he declared three young men dead.

Left, Tijuana Red Cross responds to the scene of a homicide where a roughly 35-year-old man was shot in the back of the head. Right, Tijuana Red Cross paramedics transport Abel Arenas Enriquez, 55, who was shot four times — twice in the back and once in each arm — to Tijuana General Hospital, where he died. (Gary Coronado / LOS Angeles Times).

Growing up here in the 1980's, Mendez used to stay out late playing in the streets, coming in only if there was a San Diego Padres baseball game on television.

Today, grisly images from homicide scenes — which he documents as part of his job — are stored on his cellphone alongside photographs of his family. There is his curly haired 4-year-old daughter at a birthday party. There is a body burned beyond recognition. There is his wife, smiling in a dress. There is a corpse in a ditch.

Back at Red Cross headquarters that night, just after Mendez asked a friend for a pill to soothe his stomach ulcers, the radio on his hip squawked to life.

"Cinco bravo," a dispatcher said. The code for a gunshot wound.

Behind the story: How The Times reported on Tijuana's massive rise in homicides ».

In a poor neighborhood not far from the border, Mendez found a shirtless man with tattoos on his chest who had been shot twice in the back and once in each hand. Mendez dropped to his knees and listened.

"he's alive!" Mendez shouted. "Bring a stretcher!

As he loaded the man into an ambulance, the victim's teenage daughter appeared, shoeless and in shock.

"Stay cool," Mendez said as he guided her into the front seat and buckled her seat belt. "Stay calm. "

Her father was alert and moaning when staffers wheeled him into the hospital.

A few hours later, he was dead.

New cartel brings new level of horror In 2008, homicides in Tijuana hit a new high of 825.

The Sinaloa cartel, headed by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, had tried to take over trafficking routes controlled by the Tijuana cartel and the results were deadly.

Brutal fighting erupted between the cartels — and between the cartels and police and the hundreds of soldiers that then-President Felipe Calderon had sent to Tijuana as part of his new USA -backed war on drugs.

The city had never experienced anything like it. Assassins hung bodies from bridges and rolled dismembered heads down city streets. One day, seven police officers were ambushed and killed in the span of 45 minutes. Even wealthy areas were not safe from shootouts.

Warfare was expensive, so gang leaders began kidnapping residents for ransom, spurring an exodus of the city's upper class. Tourism, on which the economy depended, dried up.

But by late 2010, the killings had begun to subside and peace seemed to have returned.

Calderon said his government was winning the war on drugs — and that Tijuana was proof.

Speaking to a crowd of civic and business leaders that year, he credited his government's "kingpin strategy," which targeted cartel leaders.

Tijuana, he said, was "a clear, concrete example. That the challenge of security has a solution."

When he mentioned Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica, who had been leading the fight against the cartels in Tijuana, the crowd burst into applause.

By 2012, the number of homicides had fallen to 367, and Tijuana was blossoming into a tourist destination known for its craft breweries, art and music scene and haute cuisine.

But the peace did not last.

With the Sinaloa cartel beset by infighting after Guzman's arrest in 2014, other cartels saw opportunity.

Soon the newly ascendant Jalisco New Generation Cartel muscled into Tijuana. It wanted access to the border, and also sought control of the city's local drug trade.

Between 2014 and 2016, the annual body count jumped from 493 to 919. But that was only a prelude to a bigger explosion in violence.

What the children see in Tijuana.

Caught in the middle of the chaos were men like Rafael Noriega Peña.

Noriega came to Tijuana as a teenager from the coast of Sonora state, where the only decent work was overnight fishing on the Sea of Cortez.

His parents, who toiled in the maquiladoras, warned him and his siblings to stay away from the narcos.

"If you go out with wolves, they will teach you to howl," his mother used to say.

By the time he was in his 30's, Noriega had five children with two women, a factory job he hated and a raging addiction to cristal.

His siblings pooled their meager factory wages so he could enter a rehabilitation facility in late 2017. Each weekend, they brought him homemade Chile rellenos.

Noriega left the program in March, but his sobriety didn't last.

Shortly before dawn one morning in May, his mother awoke to the sound of five gunshots. She stumbled, screaming, to his room off the back of the house. He was slumped in a chair, dead.

Images from the front lines of Tijuana's deadly drug war.

His relatives don't know who killed him or why. The night of the shooting, they gathered in the kitchen while their children played outside with strips of crime scene tape.

Tomas, who was now his mother's only son, put his arms around her.

"You have four other children to live for," he said as she sobbed.

His 6-year-old daughter, Michel, entered the house with a toy gun. She pointed it at him and pretended to shoot.

"I'm a narco!" she said, giggling.

He shook her by the shoulders. "Where did you learn that?" he asked angrily.

He released her. He knew the answer.

"As a child. What do you see here?" he said, with tears in his eyes. "Pure violence. "

Police raids seem futile.

The police officers locked eyes, nodded, then stormed into the squalid apartment building on a hunt for drug dealers.

They moved down a corridor with flashlights, kicking open doors of cell-like rooms strewn with used needles, mattresses and cups of [CodeWord109] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord109).

There were no dealers, just sprawled-out junkies who barely noticed the intrusion.

The police moved on to their next target, a dimly lighted watering hole called Norteno Bar tucked amid the strip clubs and taco shops of Tijuana's Zona Norte.

Police frisked more than a dozen patrons and found only a single dose of meth, in the pocket of a man in his 70's.

Raids like these, conducted one night in December, are among the city's primary tactics to reduce violence. But many here believe they are futile, and that time and resources would be better spent on intelligence-driven policing to identify those likely to carry out violence.

State investigators and prosecutors also have a role to play: More than 9 out of 10 of Tijuana's killings go unsolved.

Critics say the homicide crisis has gotten short shrift because most of the victims are addicts and dealers.

"It's sad to watch them not manage the problem and just wait for them to kill themselves," said Jaime Arredondo, a researcher at the British Columbia Center on Substance Use who has spent years studying Tijuana's local drug trade.

The city's police chief, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, has said repeatedly that tourists and most residents shouldn't worry about the violence.

"Those who are dying are young people and criminals who get into a world where they know that part of the risk of that business is. That they will lose their lives," he said.

"We have to understand the city is not on fire," he said.

Adela Navarro Bello, the director of Zeta magazine, which has long chronicled cartel activity in Tijuana, said such a view was shortsighted.

The 2008 spike in violence proved that battles between the cartels hurt society as a whole, she said. "If we don't put an end to this fight, this is going to grow. "

A high-ranking state police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said cartel leaders might themselves be unable to control the violence, which is fueled by easy access to guns smuggled from the USA And assassins who will kill for as little as $50 or a few hits of meth.

"If we can't control it," the official said, "they can't control it. ".

Kidnapped, tortured, killed.

Two years ago, Antolin Tinajero was kidnapped in a meth lab by members of an opposing gang, tortured and left dead on the side of a road.

His brother Lucio, who was also at the lab that day, escaped and went into hiding.

Later that year, his brother Cipriano was shot and killed in an altercation outside his house.

His brother Mario was also shot — at the local tiendita — but survived.

Their sister Esperanza Navarro, the lone girl of 10 siblings, went to the hospital or the morgue each time because her mother, a migrant from Guadalajara who cleaned houses for a living, was illiterate and could not fill out the paperwork.

Esperanza pleaded with her brothers to leave drugs behind: "All you do is cause pain," she told them.

Top, a cluster of mass graves where unidentified bodies — the majority of them homicide victims — are buried in Tijuana after they are transported from the city's Medical Forensic Service morgue. Bottom left, Concepcion Ventura, left, with her arm around her daughter Aidali Jeronimo, 21, in front of their Tijuana home where Ventura's son Jonathan Ventura Citalan, 18, was shot and killed on a June day. Bottom right, Esperanza Navarro, 35, with her nephews, visits the grave of her brother Cipriano, who was shot and killed in front of his home on Sept. 7, 2017. (Gary Coronado / LOS Angeles Times).

Last year, her brother Francisco decided she was right and tried to get clean.

As a local dealer in a dangerous neighborhood called Camino Verde, he knew that if he crossed from the hill where he lived to another one about half a mile away, he could be killed. "The violence is with the low-level people," he said. "Not the chiefs. ".

One day in August, he went to pick up his son, who was with his mother on the other hill.

He was ambushed by a gunman, who shot him in the face, the top of the head and the arm.

He survived, though his speech is now slurred. His sister thinks he is using drugs again.

She wishes she could leave Tijuana with her three children but is too poor: "You want to grab your family and go as far as you can. ".

Trying to get clean — again.

Drug rehab is a growing industry in Tijuana, with 98 state-certified centers in the city compared with 60 in 2007.

At Una Nueva Vida — or A New Life — roughly 70% of 170 residents are being treated for meth addiction, said its director, Ernesto Chavez Gutierrez, a former lawyer who is also a recovering addict.

One of the youngest, a 14-year-old, was brought to the center several months ago by his weeping father. Local gang members had come to the house to try to kill the boy, who had begun hallucinating and stealing cars.

The father couldn't afford the $370 a month treatment fee, so Chavez gave him a break.

A few months later, the father returned and checked himself into the program. He, too, was addicted to meth.

Christian Castillo checked himself into Una Nueva Vida last summer, spending the first week locked in a room with a television to detox. He is now seven months clean and is doing so well that he has been given a leadership role. He carries a walkie-talkie and keeps the peace among residents, whose cravings can sometimes make them violent.

Castillo plans to wait an additional five months before he leaves rehab.

He has gone through this twice before. The last time, he was on the streets for two hours before he started using again.

Produced by Jessica Perez and Kelly Corrigan.

[Travv]

"However well-intentioned, the surveillance tactics that have been adopted by hotel chains are part of a disturbing partnership between hospitality businesses, federal law enforcement, and rent-seeking nonprofits that increasingly seeks to track the movements and whereabouts of people, especially women, all over the country. Under pressure from the federal government and driven by persistent myths about the nature and prevalence of sex trafficking, hotel chains like Marriott have become the new frontiers of the surveillance state. Like the indiscriminate spying campaigns that grew out of the 9/11 attacks, it's an effort based on panic, profiling, and stereotypes, and it is nearly certain to ensnare more innocents than it helps. . . . "

Marriott International and many other hotel chains have adopted Blue Campaign tactics. In 2017, Marriott made "anti-trafficking" training mandatory for all 750,000 of its employees worldwide. CEO Arne Sorenson described it as "educating and empowering our global workforce to say something if they see something. "

FacebookThe Blue Campaign's spot-a-trafficker tips include looking for people who appear fatigued or sleep deprived, guests not wanting cleaning staff in their room, a woman "waiting at a table or bar and picked up by a male," a car parked with its license plate away from the door, a guest with multiple computers or phones, booking multiple rooms under one name, having a lot of condoms or "sex paraphernalia" around, too many men entering one room, and any "unusual behavior. "

It's exactly the kind of vague invitation for snooping and snitching that will inevitably snare sexual activity between consenting adults, from sex workers and their customers to couples who doesn't sit right with staff. In several recent high-profile cases, airline staff trained to "spot traffickers" have harassed interracial couples and families. When people are asked to use gut instinct to stop real but rare horrors, relying on racial stereotypes and other biases tends to rule.

Blue Campaign imperatives also invite harassment of people doing nothing sexual at all. Who hasn't exhibited fatigue or sleep deprivation while traveling? Or backed into a parking spot for reasons other than evading detection?

https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/05/hotel-surveillance-state-sex-trafficking

Unless you want to be on a DHS "sex trafficker black list" suggest you avoid major hotel chains like Marriott where the staff are trained to spy on guests. Have too many women visit your room or too many condoms? Big Brother is Watching You, even in foreign countries, per the article.

[Captain Solo]

I was walking with my wingman along the alley Wed night, checking out the chicas. My wingman took out his huge iPhone, checking messages.

2 cops were talking to a couple guys in front of hotel El Porton. The smiling pudgy guy warned my wingman that someone may snatch his phone. We thanked him and went on. We debated the wisdom of tipping them.

On the way back, the 2 cops were still standing there by themselves. I gave the smiling, pudgy guy a $1, saying it's for coffee " para cafe. " My wingman also gave them money. They were beaming widely. Unlike the US, Tijuana policias make very little money, like $200 a month, and are always hungry. We decided to show our appreciation for the good policias' community service in propinas. Costed us little but looked like good diplomacy. Think of it as similar to Trump's foreign aids to poor Central America.

[Travv]

"Mexico City, Feb 6 (Reuters)- Mexico began beefing up law enforcement in its most violent districts this week, officials said on Wednesday, sending the first of 10,200 troops and police to reduce murder rates in 17 hot spots, in the first phase of a program it plans to expand. . .

Homicides rose by one-third last year, breaking a record for the second consecutive year and underscoring the challenge facing Mexico's new president to rein in the violence that has spiraled over the last decade amid a military-led war on drug trafficking. The northern border city of Tijuana, which had one of the country's highest murder tallies in December with 202 deaths, began receiving new forces on Monday. Fellow USA Border cities of Ciudad Juarez, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo are also slated for an influx of troops, along with tourist beach destination of Acapulco.

The deployments are intended to be permanent, Durazo said."

http://news.trust.org/item/20190206193919-0rrid

Read recently that tourism is way down in Rosarita. . . American tourists are now afraid to go there and the Rosarita hotels and restaurants are hurting. Anyone confirm?

[ClamSlammer]

I stayed at that Mariot in Tijuana once. You Do not want a girl who's in the business in it...the only place that these woman are legal are the two streets on zona Norte. Once you bring your illegal hobby elsewhere, you are vulnerable to arrest.Prostitution is legal in Mexico. You just can't openly engage in it out on the streets except in the zona de tolerancia. There's short term love motels everywhere, and puta bars spread throughout Tijuana outside the Zona like Amnesia, Deja Vu, La Razza, Cueva Peludo, La Botana, Bohemia, Marabu, Rokamar, Siete de Copas and a couple others I can't recall right now.

[StRobert]

Link to article from "The San Diego Union. Tribune" https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sd-me-tijuana-security-20190205-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1oXU7qD7HFv3VB9V6pPy4n62_fUGF13E4GyoOzNkM6PaSbKJSYO6V_tSQ.

[Aviator400]

I stayed at that Mariot in Tijuana once. You Do not want a girl who's in the business in it. I showed up in sneakers and t shirt felt out of place. Keep in mind, as far as I understand it, the only place that these woman are legal are the two streets on zona Norte. Once you bring your illegal hobby elsewhere, you are vulnerable to arrest.What "illegal hobby" are you referencing? If banging putas outside of the Zone was illegal, there would not be a thriving escort industry in Tijuana.

[StRobert]

Link to article from "The San Diego Union Tribune" https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sd-me-amlo-crime-tijuana-20190131-story.html.

[ClamSlammer]

...and they jammed him with speaking to girl for sex...hey can and will arrest for doing this hobby in other areas if someone doesn't like you...They "jammed" him? Where do you come up with these terms? What does "jammed" mean? Sounds like something I do to a slice of toast. And no, they can't arrest you for soliciting prostitution. It is legal in Mexico. If you look scared and gullible enough, the policia may say it's illegal and threaten you with jail unless you pay a "fine. " But they can't follow through on that threat because it's not illegal.

[Hargow20]

If the various police agencies work together than it could help improve the crime situation. The military already patrols the streets in the Zona so it is hard to see how that will help much in the Zona. But to have any serious impact the federal govt must first root out the police corruption. I will be convinced the police are serious when the drug dealers that sell in the open are gone. The police may see this as a opportunity to shake more people down so I use more caution.


Link to article from "The San Diego Union Tribune" https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sd-me-amlo-crime-tijuana-20190131-story.html.

[Captain Solo]

What happened to Backpage's owners in the US shook up a lot of people who involves in prostitution in different ways to make profit.

The law in most states in Mexico make it illegal to profit from prostitutes. Guys who operate the web sites and man the phones to send girls to hotels for sex could be convicted if local governments decide to press the issue.

So far Mexicans seem immune to prosecution, but a few of those prosecuted and convicted that I heard of, were all foreigners:

1. Black guy who ran escort service in Playas and Rosaroto Beach.

2. Larry, black BBQ chef in SD, owner of Nikky's bar on Tijuana's Calle 1, arrested brought to CDMX for prosecution for trafficking and prostitution, fate unknown.

3. The Jewish Dad and son, owner of a strip club on Revo, arrested and prosecuted for trafficking bestiality etc.

[Travv]

Knew a guy years ago who owned a Tijuana factory making cardboard boxes for TVs from Maquiladora plants. He said he was always getting visits from different Mexican government agencies for "inspections" and then having to pay "mordida". When he got fed up with the payoffs and some of the locals heard him yelling about it in his office, he got a call at lunch that he was about to be arrested and held til he paid off some other people. . . He left immediately for San Diego and abandoned the cardboard factory. Something similar probably went down here. . . The businesses now have a new local owner who is friends with the local power structure. I've run into guys thinking they will open a business locally. Unless you have the right connections, you may have difficulties, once a local figures out how to run your business for you. Then you are no longer needed.


What happened to Backpage's owners in the US shook up a lot of people who involves in prostitution in different ways to make profit.

The law in most states in Mexico make it illegal to profit from prostitutes. Guys who operate the web sites and man the phones to send girls to hotels for sex could be convicted if local governments decide to press the issue.

So far Mexicans seem immune to prosecution, but a few of those prosecuted and convicted that I heard of, were all foreigners:

1. Black guy who ran escort service in Playas and Rosaroto Beach.

2. Larry, black BBQ chef in SD, owner of Nikky's bar on Tijuana's Calle 1, arrested brought to CDMX for prosecution for trafficking and prostitution, fate unknown.

3. The Jewish Dad and son, owner of a strip club on Revo, arrested and prosecuted for trafficking bestiality etc.

[Captain Solo]

It happens quite often in most third world countries. Foreigners invest capital and their lives into developing businesses, only to be robbed and lose them to locals.

In the cases of Nikki's bar and the Strip club on Revo, both businesses just disappeared. Nobody took them over.

Respectable business and government officials are always looking for opportunities to squeeze people for mordida. I am not surprised that government officials took large bribes from El Chapo an dother cartels.

Knew a guy years ago who owned a Tijuana factory making cardboard boxes for TVs from Maquiladora plants. He said he was always getting visits from different Mexican government agencies for "inspections" and then having to pay "mordida". When he got fed up with the payoffs and some of the locals heard him yelling about it in his office, he got a call at lunch that he was about to be arrested and held til he paid off some other people. . . He left immediately for San Diego and abandoned the cardboard factory. Something similar probably went down here. . . The businesses now have a new local owner who is friends with the local power structure. I've run into guys thinking they will open a business locally. Unless you have the right connections, you may have difficulties, once a local figures out how to run your business for you. Then you are no longer needed.

[Captain Solo]

Gangs with ties to cartels and drugs sales lured the 3 migrant boys to a house in Tijuana with promise of sex and money. They then kidnapped, tortured and murdered 2 to extort money. The bodies were dumped near Calle Quintana Roo, near the Telefonica Gastro Park. If gangs even extort money from the poorest migrants, they will probably soon target gringos, whose families would pay hundreds thousands for their release. Gangs may just murder victims rather than risking being identified in prosecution.

To avoid the same horrible fate, the bros are urged to maintain low profiles in Mexico, don't flaunt their wealth, don't overpay and overtip girls and meseros, don't make themselves look like lucrative targets for kipnap and extortion, don't go places with unknown people, don't ride in unknown taxis, UBER is safer, be very careful where they go and whom they deal with.

Noobs and visitors from out of town are encouraged to contact Hong Kong's VIP host and Cascada's concierge, Alberto Quinto, to get the best service and security.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

Mexico Tricked, abducted and killed: the last day of two child migrants in Mexico.

The deaths show the vulnerability of migrants forced to 'remain in Mexico' under new US policy for asylum seekers.

Ed Vulliamy in Tijuana.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/16/tijuana-migrant-child-murders-mexico-us-asylum

On a Saturday afternoon in December, three Honduran boys walked out through the gates of the blue stucco YMCA shelter for unaccompanied child migrants in Tijuana, and turned past the gas station next door on to Cuauhtémoc Boulevard for a walk.

Their destination was a sports centre-turned-migrant camp to visit people they'the met travelling north with a caravan of other Central Americans.

Two of them never returned: the bodies of Jasson Ricardo Acuña Polanco and Jorge Alexander Ruiz Duban, 16 and 17, were found the following morning; three people were arrested for their murder.

The boys were tricked, abducted, tortured and killed; the survivor escaped with wounds to his throat from attempted strangulation and remains acutely traumatised.

The horrific murder brings into brutal focus the vulnerability of migrants forced to "remain in Mexico" under the new US policy for asylum seekers.

On a recent visit to Tijuana, Unicef's deputy representative in Mexico, Pressia Arifin Cabo said that migrant children must be protected from danger – on both sides of the border. "Migration is not a crime, and many of these adolescents are travelling alone, unsure of what to do," she said.

The Guardian has traced the Honduran boys' final days, on the basis of the surviving child's account – we'll call him Lázaro – as told to staff at the shelter and the Tijuana district attorney, José Alberto Álavarez.

"They had been with us two or three weeks", said Uriel González, who runs four YMCA shelters for unaccompanied child migrants along the border. "They left the casa by themselves, and one of two women started talking to them".

According to González, the woman lured them to a white-gated house near the city centre with the promise of sex and money. Eventually, "she took them to a house and they were not allowed to leave. That's when they realised they'the been kidnapped".

According to Álvarez, the initial motive appears to have been theft, but when it became clear the boys didn't have any cash the kidnappers decided to extort money from their relatives captives – and then started to torture them.

The Hondurans were tied to chairs undressed and tortured with scissors.

Two of the boys were murdered – one choked on a stick, the other strangled – but somehow Lázaro escaped and found his way back to the shelter, González said.

The bodies of Acuña and Ruiz were dumped the same night near a school nearby.

A woman who lives nearby recalled: "There was a commotion. People said: there are bodies over the road! I saw them covered with a blanket. The police arrived, lights and noise, and took them away".

Officers later took a statement from Lázaro and then asked him to recreate the route of his abduction, said Álvarez. "And, unbelievably, there was the same girl, walking the same street, doing the same thing – two days later. She told us where the house was, and there we found one man who took us to the other guy. ".

The woman and two men were arrested and charged with abduction and murder.

Because the victims were from the migrant caravan, the killings have drawn rare attention in Tijuana – where such deaths usually fail to turn a head.

Local human rights activists have linked the double murder to a growing hostility towards Central Americans that has grown in Tijuana since the migrant caravans first arrived last year.

"It's hard not to think that a climate of xenophobia promoted by the state's own institutions is not a breeding ground for this type of action", said the president of the Baja California State Commission for Human Rights, Melba Adriana Olvera Rodríguez, citing what she called inflammatory language by municipal leaders.

Prosecutor Álvarez insists the deaths reflect the spiraling violence which has afflicted Tijuana: 2,502 were killed in the city last year – a rate of 126 per 100,000 inhabitants.

"These were small-time drug dealers working the street, themselves intoxicated. These terrible murders illustrate the social decomposition we see in Tijuana," he said.

Both men arrested have records of drug dealing, and admitted low-level connections with cartels.

Migrants flee violence only to find more in Tijuana – Mexico's murder capital.

"At the root of this are drugs", says Álvarez, "but most of the murders now are by petty drug-dealers; people fighting for turf for the domestic market in methamphetamine.

"This case has attracted attention because the victims were from the caravan. If they had not been, no one would know about this – they would probably be just two more murder victims in Tijuana. ".

Weeks after the murders, the YMCA shelter is still in shock; most of the youngsters here remember the victims well.

"They were the same as us, who came here hungry and thirsty," says one boy, José. "We came for lack of work and because gangs back home threaten you with death to get money even if it's just a few pennies. ".

González fears for the safety of the surviving boy. "The kidnappers threatened to kill him if he spoke. He just wants to get the hell out of Mexico, but cannot until they have closed the case," he said.

Local authorities say Lázaro will have to testify, but after that there is no guarantee the boy will be granted asylum in the US.

The corner on Calle Quintana Roo where the bodies were dumped, two-and-a-half blocks away.

On Monday 17 December, two Californian congress members, Nanette Barragáand and Jimmy Gómez, came to Tijuana, to join a protest against US authorities' refusal to allow asylum seekers to make their claim, as is their right under US and international law.

After waiting all night at the crossing, they finally accompanied 20 migrants through, including 8 minors. There were supposed to have been nine – also on the list was Lázaro.

"he should be in the United States now, processing his asylum claim" said González. "Instead he is here, traumatised, waiting for his chance to come, living this nightmare".

[Travv]

Before I get in a taxi, I ask the hotel staff if the taxi is safe or have the hotel call you a taxi. Kudo to Captain Solo for posting this alert.

Also, migrants could easily wind up dead in Detroit or Chicago from a drive by shooting or dead from dating dudes in Los Angeles. One guy there is notorious for dating black male prostitutes who wind up dead afterwards. . . Sex and drug parties gone sour. This is likely what happened in Tijuana, tweekers on Cristal desperate for a fix and imagining that broke migrant kids could pay for their next hit of meth, then killing them when the money for drugs didn't show up.


Gangs with ties to cartels and drugs sales lured the 3 migrant boys to a house in Tijuana with promise of sex and money. They then kidnapped, tortured and murdered 2 to extort money. The bodies were dumped near Calle Quintana Roo, near the Telefonica Gastro Park. If gangs even extort money from the poorest migrants, they will probably soon target gringos, whose families would pay hundreds thousands for their release. Gangs may just murder victims rather than risking being identified in prosecution..

[Bobster65]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.

[ScottHall]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.If you just take the limo or cab straight to the club and straight back you should be fine. If you're worried then stay inside the club. Don't wander off anywhere. It's OK to bar hop but walk with a purpose. Night time can be intimidating, maybe do your traveling when it's light out.

[Long Don Silva]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.You purchase the VIP card at the front desk of HK, immediately to the left upon entering the front door before the curtains. I find it more convenient to take a taxi or uber than it is to take the HK limo. Sometimes you have to wait a while for the limo and you're still expected to tip the driver so I find more value in uber or taxi. The taxis are abundant at the PedEast crossing. If you have sufficient reception on your phone, uber's a lot cheaper than taxis, at least for Americans since taxi drivers jack up the price on us.

And don't get caught up in the paranoia you'll see from one of the posters here. Something about an 80's rock band and a fancy sports car. All the regulars here, myself included, have experiences that are in many ways diametrically opposed to what he posts. Just don't be the stereotypical American expecting the rest of the world to bow at your feet. Also, always be aware of your surroundings just like you should in any other city. And last but not least, treat the putas like you would any other ladies.

[Captain Solo]

To Bobster65.

You sound scared, but don't have to be. Tijuana is not less safe than downtown LOS Angeles, San Francisco or New York, and far safer than downtown Baltimore and Detroit.

I am always concerned about my own safety. I traveled all over Mexico and other dangerous, war-torn parts of the world and had no problems just by maintaining a few precautions. The most violent and scariest places are Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, Recife of Brazil and many places in Africa and Asia. Tijuana is murder capital only among drug dealers. You should be safe going back and forth across the border during day and night time if you walk with a bunch of other people.

You should call HK and ask for the phone number of Alberto Quinto, the VIP host. He speaks English. Negotiate a tip with him and promise him you will spend lots of money in the club and for HK's girls and he can send a guy to pick you up in San Diego and drive you to HK's front door. Go in HK and buy the VIP card at the small reception desk. You should make reservation with Cascada hotel on line beforehand. Check in showing your HK's VIP card, you will have 80% room discount on Monday and Tuesday.

On the way back the limo parks in front of the club. Tell valet parking guys you want a ride back. It usually goes immediately, taking you to PedEast. HK's smaller van will take you to PedWest. I heard HK's big limo has armored plates and bullet-proof glass. Check it out hehe.

[Jackie888]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.You can take either a taxi to HK and back for $5, or the HK limo for $1 if you know where they are parked. VIP cards are bought in person. They will ask for your driver's license. Monday's suck. Monday afternoon is worst. Sure you want to go Monday afternoon? Consider Wednesday instead.

Safety is not an issue if you go directly to and stay put at one of the big 3 clubs instead of wandering around. Police presence is very light on Monday's, so limit your curiosity.

[ScatManDoo]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.Use this link to get a coupon for a free limo ride from the border:

http://hktijuana.com/assets/pdf/HK-Coupon-Ride.pdf

The coupon gives you the HK website for you to use to schedule the limo pick-up.

When you arrive, I suggest that you go into HK first before going upstairs to Cascades to check-in, even if you are carrying some luggage.

At the HK Customer Service desk you can purchase the the VIP for $50 (or in pesos at HK's in house exchange rate).

When you go upstairs to Cascades, you will want to have your VIP in-hand when you check-in (in order to get the associated discounts).

[Scudrucker]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.Everybody has a first time. You are lucky in that you have this board and countless youtube videos and sites so that it will not seem new to you.

The vip card is not available online. It is now only good for three months so buy it at the service counter as you enter Hong Kong.

Usually I arrive early so they check my backpack, buy the vip card then ask for the drink slip and the half price lap dance. Doesn't matter if you use it, just ask for it so later you don't have to break the mood.

You arrive at three so the room should be ready.

After buying the card head upstairs to check in. Tell them your res and when they find your room use the card to get the discount.

Cascadas is less seedy than it sounds. I have made many reservations and only have received confirmation from them.

No surprise emails or customer lists ever showed up.

Use taxi is easiest right after the border. Just get in line If you are an uber that is available too.

I personally have never taken the HK shuttle but maybe others can speak to that.

Try not to get too hung up on street crime. In the daytime you are just another tourist.

Heading back to the border is just as easy.

Always a cab waiting outside the door, and the shuttle will take you if you book a time.

Have a great time.

The real danger here is to the wallet going back time after time after.

Some others far more experienced than me will chime in.

Sr.

[Captain Solo]

Due to heightened concerns about safety and security in Tijuana, the bros should rely on HK's resources, HK's VIP host and Cascada's concierge, Alberto Quinto.

He can arrange anything you need, including pick up and deliver to San Diego. Just give him a generous propina for his work.

He speaks English. Here's his business card with tel and email. The noobs and bros from outof state should contact him for anything they need.

[Bobster65]

If take the limo, everyone knows you got money. What if the limo driver says to wait, now your standing near it with dozens people looking at you. Or the police pull limo over for your money. Take can, tell him you are going to Azul to eat with friends who are in Hong Kong. Tell him you are not staying overnight in Mexico. Bring backpack not suitcase. Two nights in zona Norte is dangerous because you will get curious of side streets and start wandering. Stay in San Diego a few nights it's beautiful. If San Diego had woman living here like east coast or even Los Angeles it would be great place to live.I see you you do not recommend taking the limo or the HK shuttle. I was hoping that would be more secure as it is from the club and not some unknown taxi driver. I was leaning towards taking the lino but now that might not be sensible. I was concerned about going in some unknown taxi.

I was planning to go there only in day time. I can go even earlier like noon or 01:00 pm. My plan was to stay in the club and check in the hotel overnight. Enjoy the club and then next day in morning say like 10:00 am head back to the border. I was going to restrict all travelling only to daylight hours.

I really want to do this trip as it is in my bucket list but am just getting scared by some of the stuff I was reading. I was going to bring only a backpack. Arrive in early afternoon hang in HK and say overnight in hotel. No night time travel.

I am still scared and concerned for some reason.

[OneInTheDugOut]

I see you you do not recommend tering aking the limo or the HK shuttle. I was hoping that would be more secure as it is from the club and not some unknown taxi driver. I was leaning towards taking the lino but now that might not be sensible. I was concerned about going in some unknown taxi.

I was planning to go there only in day time. I can go even earlier like noon or 01:00 pm. My plan was to stay in the club and check in the hotel overnight. Enjoy the club and then next day in morning say like 10:00 am head back to the border. I was going to restrict all travelling only to daylight hours.

I really want to do this trip as it is in my bucket list but am just getting scared by some of the stuff I was reading. I was going to bring only a backpack. Arrive in early afternoon hang in HK and say overnight in hotel. No night time travel.

I am still scared and concerned for some reason.This guy is trying to scare you. I've taken the limo 5 times, no issue. Plan on going March 13 and 14 and I will show you the ropes and get you there safe. Nothing to be scared of.

[Ctytek]

Do not pay attention to anything this poster says. His posts are mostly noise.

Follow basic personal safety practices, as you'd do in any large city. You will be just fine.


I see you you do not recommend taking the limo or the HK shuttle. I was hoping that would be more secure as it is from the club and not some unknown taxi driver. I was leaning towards taking the lino but now that might not be sensible. I was concerned about going in some unknown taxi.

I was planning to go there only in day time. I can go even earlier like noon or 01:00 pm. My plan was to stay in the club and check in the hotel overnight. Enjoy the club and then next day in morning say like 10:00 am head back to the border. I was going to restrict all travelling only to daylight hours.

I really want to do this trip as it is in my bucket list but am just getting scared by some of the stuff I was reading. I was going to bring only a backpack. Arrive in early afternoon hang in HK and say overnight in hotel. No night time travel.

I am still scared and concerned for some reason.

[Bobster65]

Due to heightened concerns about safety and security in Tijuana, the bros should rely on HK's resources, HK's VIP host and Cascada's concierge, Alberto Quinto.

He can arrange anything you need, including pick up and deliver to San Diego. Just give him a generous propina for his work.

He speaks English. Here's his business card with tel and email. The noobs and bros from out of state should contact him for anything they need.Appreciate you passing over the contact info for Alberto Quinto. This is very helpful. I have been trying to get this info. So you recommend that we use his services as he is reliable and knows the lay of the land. Others had suggested going by taxi so as not to draw attention.

I would be very happy to work with Alberto if that is what the veterans in this group suggest. Alberto is connected with the Club and hotel? Safe to use his services?

[Bobster65]

You can take either a taxi to HK and back for $5, or the HK limo for $1 if you know where they are parked. VIP cards are bought in person. They will ask for your driver's license. Monday's suck. Monday afternoon is worst. Sure you want to go Monday afternoon? Consider Wednesday instead.

Safety is not an issue if you go directly to and stay put at one of the big 3 clubs instead of wandering around. Police presence is very light on Monday's, so limit your curiosity.I was planning to go Tuesday afternoon and stay through the night. I suppose I could go on Wednesday instead if the is better. Tuesday is better on my schedule but I can make it Wednesday if you feel that it will make a difference.

[Bobster65]

If you just take the limo or cab straight to the club and straight back you should be fine. If you're worried then stay inside the club. Don't wander off anywhere. It's OK to bar hop but walk with a purpose. Night time can be intimidating, maybe do your traveling when it's light out.The plan is to take the limo / cab straight to the club and back. Stay at the hotel and stick to the club and hotel without wandering out. I don't know but I am just shit scared for some strange reason. If I stick to the club and take limo / cab back and forth during day hours will it be okay?

[Long Don Silva]

If take the limo, everyone knows you got money. What if the limo driver says to wait, now your standing near it with dozens people looking at you. Or the police pull limo over for your money. Take can, tell him you are going to Azul to eat with friends who are in Hong Kong. Tell him you are not staying overnight in Mexico. Bring backpack not suitcase. Two nights in zona Norte is dangerous because you will get curious of side streets and start wandering. Stay in San Diego a few nights it's beautiful. If San Diego had woman living here like east coast or even LOS Angeles it would be great place to live.I was about to ask you to please stop. But as I read your post a second time, I actually found it to be really funny.

[RikyMichaels7]

I see you you do not recommend taking the limo or the HK shuttle. I was hoping that would be more secure as it is from the club and not some unknown taxi driver. I was leaning towards taking the lino but now that might not be sensible. I was concerned about going in some unknown taxi.

I was planning to go there only in day time. I can go even earlier like noon or 01:00 pm. My plan was to stay in the club and check in the hotel overnight. Enjoy the club and then next day in morning say like 10:00 am head back to the border. I was going to restrict all travelling only to daylight hours.

I really want to do this trip as it is in my bucket list but am just getting scared by some of the stuff I was reading. I was going to bring only a backpack. Arrive in early afternoon hang in HK and say overnight in hotel. No night time travel.

I am still scared and concerned for some reason.Bobster,

There is absolutely nothing to be scared and concerned about regarding taking the limo or a taxi to HK. I have taken a taxi to La Coahuila for 20 years with absolutely no problems. Screw the limo. Just take a Taxi Libre and you will be fine. Stay in a hotel outside the zona like Ticuan or La Villa Zaragoza. The latter is cheap and gringo friendly. Just watch your surrounding area when walking in the zona and you will be fine.

The taxi will say Taxi Libre and will cost 5.00 to HK. Staying at the hotels I mentioned will allow you to get away from all the zona noise and relax. Especially after drinking and having fun at the bars.

[Bobster65]

To Bobster65.

You sound scared, but don't have to be. Tijuana is not less safe than downtown LOS Angeles, San Francisco or New York, and far safer than downtown Baltimore and Detroit.

I am always concerned about my own safety. I traveled all over Mexico and other dangerous, war-torn parts of the world and had no problems just by maintaining a few precautions. The most violent and scariest places are Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, Recife of Brazil and many places in Africa and Asia. Tijuana is murder capital only among drug dealers. You should be safe going back and forth across the border during day and night time if you walk with a bunch of other people..Captain Solo,

Appreciate your guidance and help. I am shit scared for some reason and have already cancelled my plans twice. This has been a bucket list thing for me. I avoid Detroit / Baltimore / Los Angeles downtown as much as I can. In fact always.

I will reach out to Alberto Quinto as suggested by you and others in the group. My plan is the following.

-Cross the border early in day like 11:00 am or noon.

- Stay at Cascadas for the night. I am now thinking of possibly coming back in the early evening and avoiding the night there unless you veterans tell me that being at HK in the night is a must do.

- Stick to the hotel and the club. No wandering around.

- cross the border in early evening or next morning around 10:00 am.

- keep the game plan simple and just stick to the club and hotel and travel during day only.

Anything else I need to watch out for.

Once again thanks to all the other wonderful folks on this board for your guidance.

[ScottHall]

Maybe wear a baseball cap kind of low so your face isn't easily recognizable, just blend in and walk with a purpose. It takes like 2 minutes to walk to the taxis. Plenty of women, families and Americans are walking so you can blend in for that short time. The ride to HK is like 6 minutes. If you can stomach that then you get to the girls and beer and the fun begins.

[Jackie888]

Captain Solo,

Appreciate your guidance and help. I am shit scared for some reason and have already cancelled my plans twice. This has been a bucket list thing for me. I avoid Detroit / Baltimore / Los Angeles downtown as much as I can. In fact always.

I will reach out to Alberto Quinto as suggested by you and others in the group. My plan is the following.

-Cross the border early in day like 11:00 am or noon.

- Stay at Cascadas for the night. I am now thinking of possibly coming back in the early evening and avoiding the night there unless you veterans tell me that being at HK in the night is a must do.

- Stick to the hotel and the club. No wandering around..The reason most of us suggest to stay put and not wander around is that you will soon realize that Tijuana is pretty tame. So you will have the urge to walk around and get lost in the wrong neighborhood. Security in HK is the best of all the clubs and is better than most clubs stateside. There is a police station a block from HK. Their real job is to protect tourists.

The danger you will face at Cascadas is the sounds of the chicas' heels waking you up early in the morning when you are trying to sleep. Other dangers include bad coffee as Mexicans are not as knowledgeable about espresso drinks. Another danger is over dosing on Viagra because you went nuts on the affordable $2 viagra. Another is the deep potholes on the sidewalk. Also if you get shitface drunk, a cop will more likely search and release you, but you will find $20 missing hours later when you pull out your wallet. The last danger is that when you get back to the states, you will notice that the women stateside are overweight, kind of masculine, and demanding as hell.

[Jackie888]

I was planning to go Tuesday afternoon and stay through the night. I suppose I could go on Wednesday instead if the is better. Tuesday is better on my schedule but I can make it Wednesday if you feel that it will make a difference.Most chicas take Sunday-Monday off. Others take Monday-Tuesday off.

So Sun-Monday-Tuesday tend to be the slowest days. It is not as noticeable in HK, but it is definitely noticeable in the other clubs. It noticeably picks up on Wednesday.

On the other hand, you can get a deep discount on a HK room on Monday and Tuesday with their VIP card. So if you are not on a tight budget, I would move my visit to Wednesday. Or even Thursday when the real fun begins.

[PurpleD]

I would say to go. Don't let fear keep you away. If you watch the TV show homeland, going into Tijuana alone, especially by foot, is like a episode when the CIA agents are walking around middle eastern cities. They have to zig zag on the streets, they are followed by spies, they have others that are trying to kidnap them, it's quite a adrenaline rush. If Hong Kong was 900 feet north, it would be in San Diego and wouldn't be as exciting. You just need to know one mistake, and you might be getting choked to death. In front of dozens of people watching. Practically nobody goes to jail in Mexico for violence robbery or murder. The statistics show 99% murders nobody goes to jail. It's like that movie, the purge. But every day of the year. With that being said, if you just take a taxi, just go to Hong Kong, and don't argue with any drunks in the bar, then 99.99% of the time you will be safe. The problem is one mistake like walking on the side of Hong Kong, that's where I got mugged, seen another guy got dropped by another dude, seen naked guy get tazed by the policia. As a gringo you will stand out, even before you get into Mexico you will stand out on the trolley, once south of gaslamp. Once over the border you may not see another gringo till inside Hong Kong.Really? 99% of murderes don't got to jail? Show me the proof! You're full of crap and probably never have boots on the ground. I try not to comment to much on here cause most of the time it's people like you spewing lies but dude you need to stop with all this false info. It's downright insulting.

To Bobster 65.

You'll be fine. Just use common sense and be aware of your surroundings.

[Scudrucker]

Bobster65 you are overthinking this thing. You are not running the gauntlet. I am from nowhere Canada and nobody stands out as a gringo more than me.

Thousands of gringos pass back and forth everyday. There will be a few vendors past the border but that's it. You are in a flow of people in an ordinary day. So go with the flow to a cab if that's what you want. If you are nervous meet someone from the board to show you the ropes. He has already volunteered.

Lastly I will say that my first few trips I stayed the first night at the Tiquan. Great hotel with a great included breakfast but you are a cab ride away from the action. When you stay in the zone, you can take a break and go upstairs, have a nap, eat or whatever but I have also woke up at 4-5 am go downstairs and full on partying. When you are on vacation, no limits or restrictions on when it is time for action. Azuls has good and fast room service.

Basic safety rules like any large city.

-no flash.

-no cash.

Pay attention to surroundings.

That being said, Mexican people can be the kindest and most genuine of all places I have travelled.

Sr.

[Bobster65]

Bobster65 you are overthinking this thing. You are not running the gauntlet. I am from nowhere Canada and nobody stands out as a gringo more than me.

Thousands of gringos pass back and forth everyday. There will be a few vendors past the border but that's it. You are in a flow of people in an ordinary day. So go with the flow to a cab if that's what you want. If you are nervous meet someone from the board to show you the ropes. He has already volunteered.

Lastly I will say that my first few trips I stayed the first night at the Tiquan. Great hotel with a great included breakfast but you are a cab ride away from the action. When you stay in the zone, you can take a break and go upstairs, have a nap, eat or whatever but I have also woke up at 4-5 am go downstairs and full on partying. When you are on vacation, no limits or restrictions on when it is time for action. Azuls has good and fast room service.

Basic safety rules like any large city.

-no flash.

-no cash.

Pay attention to surroundings.

That being said, Mexican people can be the kindest and most genuine of all places I have travelled.

Sr.Guys,

Appreciate all the support and guidance. You guys have been super. I am going to move forward and make this happen and follow all you advise. I just got in touch with Alberto Quinto and he seems to be a great guy. I am assuming you guys recommend using his services.

Thanks in advance.

[OneInTheDugOut]

Guys,

Appreciate all the support and guidance. You guys have been super. I am going to move forward and make this happen and follow all you advise. I just got in touch with Alberto Quinto and he seems to be a great guy. I am assuming you guys recommend using his services.

Thanks in advance.Is that a no for me showing you around March 13? Be aware, las Chavelas has a 50% off Cascadas room coupon for Wednesday's. Pedwest has the limo about 50 yards past the cabs.

[Long Don Silva]

I just got in touch with Alberto Quinto and he seems to be a great guy. I am assuming you guys recommend using his services.

Thanks in advance.I've never used his services and I don't know how much he charges. But just keep in mind that, from San Diego airport, you can take a bus to a trolley to the border for less than $5. Then walk across the border and take a cab to HK for another $5. You can also get the best exchange rates if you want to cash in your dollars for some pesos in the area immediately surrounding the trolley stop just before the border. Pesos give you much more value if you plan to partake in any street girls in the alley behind HK. Some are really sexy and a fraction of the cost of bar girls.

[ClamSlammer]

Guys,

I have always wanted to visit the world famous HK club. Purchased my tickets to San Diego. I am now in two minds abut visiting as I am concerned and fear for my safety. I was planning to get room at Cascadas hotel and be in Tijuana for 2 nights.

Any advice you can give an absolute newbie.

1. Thinking of getting VIP card and taking limo across. Wanting to get in on Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

2. Not clear how to get VIP card as can't seem to purchase online.

3. Panning to cross border back to San Diego in the early afternoon so not planning any late night activities.

How does one get to and back to HK club safely.

Any help is much appreciated. I have waited two years. Should I hold off for longer until things become more stable.You've received some good info here in this thread. But in the past 5 years I've probably logged more hours in Tijuana than the rest of the board combined. Upgrade your ISG account and PM me. I'll show you the ropes if you'd like. This is what I'd do as a newbie:

Take trolley to SY. Cross, call an Uber which will take you to HK for $35 pesos or $1. 90 us. If you want to take a cab do not pay over $5 us. If you're an economical monger, arrive on a Monday and stay through Tuesday to receive the 80% VIP discount on Cascadas rooms. Make the reservation online. When you arrive, go to the HK service counter which is just inside the main entrance to the left. Buy the VIP card. While you're at it, get your free VIP. The counter-person will print you out a ticket which you present to a bartender or mesero for your free drink. Then check in at Cascadas. Do NOT present your VIP card until AFTER they retrieve your reservation. If you pay cash and are staying for more than one night, make sure you get a receipt. It is not uncommon for the hotels in the zona to try to kick you out after one night if you don't have proof you paid for more. Definitely stay at Cascadas or maybe Rizo de Oro. Nothing beats the convenience of stepping out the door of your hotel and being in ground zero for putas.

Midweeks visits are ideal for the beginner. Not nearly as big of a circus as a weekend. I try to avoid weekends myself. Way too many dudes in the way. Chicas are in full hustle mode. Midweek it's much more relaxed and enjoyable in my opinion. Sure they're won't be as many chicas but they'll still be plenty around to satisfy.

An important tip is to not talk to or give money to anybody on the street. They'll be your taxi hustlers, shoe shiners, gum peddlers, massage hustlers, beggars, children begging, door openers, etc. You may be a little overwhelmed at first. But don't talk to or give money to any of them, no matter how sad of a story they appear to be. Good chance any money you give will go straight to the meth dealer.

Another big problem on the street is the policia. They are corrupt as hell. They won't rob you in plain sight of everyone, but 99% of their attention is focused on robbing people. The policia do nothing about the drug dealers slinging dope out in the open 10 feet away from them. But they'll stop a lonely old gringo walking down the street and search him to no end looking for "drugs. " A lot of clueless mongers report getting stopped and searched by the policia and then write "they were only doing their job. " Really? Even in Mexico detaining and searching people on the street without probable cause is illegal. So these clueless mongers are claiming that breaking the law is a legitimate duty of the policia. With all this being said, it is unlikely you will be a target of the policia if you behave normally on the street. But if you do get stopped, don't be surprised. And know that their one and only motivation is to rob you. Whether they actually rob you or not depends on the circumstances. Are there witness around? Are you obviously a scared tourist who is unlikely to report them? How much cash do you have on you? Etc. If you get stopped by the police, immediately grab your cash and hold it in your hand. Do NOT let them take possession of it. Call 078 which is a bilingual tourist help line. The threat of calling 078 will almost always result in the policia just letting you go. Remember the number of the police vehicle. It is usually a "P" followed by 4 numbers, such as P-5051. This number is crucial when identifying the cops that try to rob you. If they do happen to rob you, immediately call 911 and provide the vehicle number. The chances of recovering your lost belongings is actually pretty decent if you dial 911. As an added deterrent, take a piece of paper and write "Sindicatura 664-973-7273. " Place this piece of paper in a prominent spot in your wallet, such as the see-through ID compartment. Sindicatura is the anti-corruption internal affairs department of the Tijuana Policia. Knowing that you are aware of the Sindicatura is an effective deterrent against a police robbery attempt.

And forget Alberto Quinto. The last thing you need is some local with his hand out constantly. What can he do for you that you can't figure out in two seconds for yourself? NOTHING! Just a waste of money and he's going to expect a tip for everything. Any info you need you can find in the forums.

The main place you will want to check out is HK. Then AB, CC, TB. The rest of the bars will not be interesting midweek. You're liable to wander inside the bars in awe and looking like a newbie and therefore subject to numerous mesero scams. A lot of which can be explained but to really learn you have to experience it. Just don't ever pay for anything you didn't order. And remember each mesero's number as he leaves to get change. They are looking to rob you of your change no less than 100% of the time. In all my years in the zona, ordering thousands of drinks, I've never, ever had a mesero provide change on the spot. And each mesero has enough small bills in his pocket to provide change for at least 20 orders. Yet they always run off for change 100% of the time, hoping that you won't be there when they return so they can have an excuse to pocket your change.

As far as taking chicas arriba, midweek chicas may ask $70-$80 at HK. They should settle for $50-$70 depending on a variety of circumstances. Right now the in-house exchange rate at HK and most bars is 18:1. At CC it is 19:1. The exchange houses offer rates around 18.6. At other bars the chicas ask for less, maybe $50-$70 although the trend lately is for them to ask HK prices. You decide if they are worth it. A 30 minute room rental at Cascadas is about $18. If you have your own room for the night you can take up unlimited chicas with no surcharge. Chicas are only allowed to go to hotels affiliated with their bar. HK / Tropical / Chavelas / Malquerida chicas can go Cascadas / Rizo de Oro / Ibiza hotels. AB and Valentina chicas are part of the same group. So are CC / Gloria and some other lesser bars are part of the same group. If you want to take up a chica from a bar outside the HK group, you must pay for a short term hotel which costs $13-$17. Most street girls are willing to go to Cascadas. They offer bare minimum service starting at $12. The majority of escorts will not go to hotels located in zona norte.

Recommended places to eat are the tacos stands and Azul. The most popular stand is the one on the corner left of the HK main door if you are exiting. Teresa's cart which is on Hacienda corner is good too. HK's restaurant Azul is decent. You can access it through Cascadas and also invite HK chicas there if you wish. There's various other eateries in the area but I won't waste time writing about them as this is a mongering trip not a foodie vacation.

As far as exploring Tijuana outside of the zona, there's not much to see. The beach 15 minutes away, but not that scenic compared to USA Beaches. No extraordinary shopping options. Restaurants outside of Mexican food are generally a notch below American restaurants. Nothing to really sightsee unless you to drive an hour or more away to Popotla or Ensenada. Tijuana is an ugly city to tell you the truth. Stick to mongering in the zona.

[Baxter Slade]

Wow that was some really great info Clam. Probably a good idea for newbes to reread your post a few times to make sure all that info sinks in.

The only thing I would want to clarify. When Clam says SG' s start at $12 he is correct. But you must make the offer of 200 pesos which is roughly $12. Sometimes pesos in bars are not a good idea for newbees. But when it comes to SGs and there lack of conversion ability, for sure use pesos. An offer of 12 dollars and most will look at you like you are nuts.But the 200 peso offer (actually 12 bucks) will most likely be accepted.

[Bobster65]

I've never used his services and I don't know how much he charges. But just keep in mind that, from San Diego airport, you can take a bus to a trolley to the border for less than $5. Then walk across the border and take a cab to HK for another $5. You can also get the best exchange rates if you want to cash in your dollars for some pesos in the area immediately surrounding the trolley stop just before the border. Pesos give you much more value if you plan to partake in any street girls in the alley behind HK. Some are really sexy and a fraction of the cost of bar girls.His services were recommended by others on this board for newbies. He will pick up from San Diego airport and accompany you till the HK Limo across the bridge. He also provides other guide services if needed but I don't need that in this case. Mainly he will pick up from San Diego airport and ensure that you get on the HK limo.

[ScatManDoo]

Wow that was some really great info Clam. Probably a good idea for newbes to reread your post a few times to make sure all that info sinks in.

The only thing I would want to clarify. When Clam says SG' s start at $12 he is correct. But you must make the offer of 200 pesos which is roughly $12. Sometimes pesos in bars are not a good idea for newbees. But when it comes to SGs and there lack of conversion ability, for sure use pesos. An offer of 12 dollars and most will look at you like you are nuts.But the 200 peso offer (actually 12 bucks) will most likely be accepted.I am glad that you clarified the clumsy & careless writing of Clammy.

In that same post he carelessly wrote "While you are at it, get your free VIP".

To those of us who speak and read English, Clammy probably meant to say 'While you are at it, get your daily free drink'.

I think any time Clammy tries to write in English, someone else should probably step in to help clarify.

[ScatManDoo]

You've received some good info here in this thread. But in the past 5 years I've probably logged more hours in Tijuana than the rest of the board combined.Let me inform you that there are thousands of registered board members to this website. And numerous board members are full-time residents of Tijuana.

[Captain Solo]

This is why the entire US male population should move to within walking distance of Tijuana.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/02/22/robert-kraft-prostitution-charges-video-jupiter-florida-new-england-patriots-owner/?fbclid=IwAR3d9HbNWmIO3B-rmIRWHlqnLsswWJEBHKILr8nbEH1VObRfs6IfpJlmBOo&replytocom=719339#respond.

Robert Kraft, New England Patriots Owner, Being Charged In Jupiter, Florida Prostitution Bust.

February 22,2019 at 12:43.

JUPITER, Florida (CBS) – Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, will be charged in a prostitution bust in Jupiter, Florida. Kraft, who denies doing anything illegal, was allegedly caught in the act on video, according to police.

The stunning announcement came late Friday morning at a police news conference.

Police said Kraft was involved in two incidents in the last month at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter and there is video evidence of both showing the Patriots owner in the act. Kraft is one of 25 people who will be charged by Jupiter Police in this specific bust.

"It appears when you go to the spa for a half hour the fee would be $59, for an hour that would be $79," the lead detective on the case, Andrew Sharp, said at the news conference. He could not say how long Kraft was allegedly there or what he paid.

"The video that we obtained, it shows the act that took place," Sharp said. When asked specifically – does the video contain Kraft inside the spa receiving the alleged act, Sharp said, "The answer to that is yes. ".

The incidents are part of a larger crackdown on [CodeWord908] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord908) and prostitution at several spas in the West Palm Beach area. Kraft faces two misdemeanor charges of soliciting another for prostitution. Police said they are in the process of issuing an arrest warrant in the case.

Once the warrant is issued, Kraft will get a summons in the mail ordering him to turn himself in. He could face up to a year in jail, probation or fines. Kraft could also face discipline from the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy.

"We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further," a spokesperson for Kraft said in a statement to CNN Friday afternoon.

According to a local news website, News Chief, Kraft was in Palm Beach for a fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Saturday. He then went to Charlotte, North Carolina Sunday to attend the NBA All-Star Game.

Kraft, 77, has owned the Patriots for 25 years. The Patriots have won six Super Bowls during that time, most recently Super Bowl LIII earlier this month in Atlanta.

He has four sons. His wife Myra died in 2011.

[Jackie888]

Bobster65 you are overthinking this thing. You are not running the gauntlet.
Sr.LOL. Someone posted this. No wonder Bobster65 was freaked out.

"If you watch the TV show homeland, going into Tijuana alone, especially by foot, is like a episode when the CIA agents are walking around middle eastern cities. They have to zig zag on the streets, they are followed by spies, they have others that are trying to kidnap them, it's quite a adrenaline rush. ".

[Long Don Silva]

Let me inform you that there are thousands of registered board members to this website. And numerous board members are full-time residents of Tijuana.Yeah, seriously. I'll admit that the OP does seem to have a lot of knowledge. But he also seems to want to make everything into a pissing contest. Thus, in my opinion, he is more of a nuisance than added value. I'm also highly skeptical of his claim to be bagging several HK putas without paying them in some form or another.

[Long Don Silva]

His services were recommended by others on this board for newbies. He will pick up from San Diego airport and accompany you till the HK Limo across the bridge. He also provides other guide services if needed but I don't need that in this case. Mainly he will pick up from San Diego airport and ensure that you get on the HK limo.Yes, I know. I've been following the discussion. But I believe there was only one individual who recommended his services. And that individual has a sketchy reputation of inconsistency in the information he posts. If you want to spend whatever you've been quoted to get from the airport to HK with someone whom no one else here has verified by actually using his services when that can be accomplished for $10 via public transportation and taxi, by all means proceed. Let us know how that goes if you do.

[Scudrucker]

This is stupid. This widower went to a massage spa for simple sex. Money in exchange of sex. Time and again across Canada and USA Raids on spas. I am all for protecting [CodeWord902] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord902) workers and keeping it in control but this is not the way.

The safety of the spa is gone and sex workers face uncertainty including pimps and bad johns. The crave for sex is a drive built into all of us so that humanity lives on, and the man got a charge and his name plastered all over the news, for one of the most natural drives we have.

Sr.

[Bobster65]

You've received some good info here in this thread. But in the past 5 years I've probably logged more hours in Tijuana than the rest of the board combined. Upgrade your ISG account and PM me. I'll show you the ropes if you'd like. This is what I'd do as a newbie:

Take trolley to SY. Cross, call an Uber which will take you to HK for $35 pesos or $1. 90 us. If you want to take a cab do not pay over $5 us. If you're an economical monger, arrive on a Monday and stay through Tuesday to receive the 80% VIP discount on Cascadas rooms. Make the reservation online. When you arrive, go to the HK service counter which is just inside the main entrance to the left. Buy the VIP card. While you're at it, get your free VIP. The counter-person will print you out a ticket which you present to a bartender or mesero for your free drink. Then check in at Cascadas. Do NOT present your VIP card until AFTER they retrieve your reservation. If you pay cash and are staying for more than one night, make sure you get a receipt. It is not uncommon for the hotels in the zona to try to kick you out after one night if you don't have proof you paid for more. Definitely stay at Cascadas or maybe Rizo de Oro. Nothing beats the convenience of stepping out the door of your hotel and being in ground zero for putas.

Midweeks visits are ideal for the beginner. Not nearly as big of a circus as a weekend. I try to avoid weekends myself. Way too many dudes in the way...Unable to upgrade my ISG account as it will not process my CC payment. Guess this is a problem for those in US. No option but to do the cash option but that will take 2 weeks or more.

[Ctytek]

Gawd, you have taken on some awful advice here. You do not need this Alberto whoever guy to chaperone you across San Diego. All he is just going to is milk you dry for "tips", like all of these meseros do.

You are seriously over complicating a simple $5 trolley trip to SY and another $5 taxi ride to HK. Don't waste your time and money on these useless HK "hosts", "limos", and the rest of this nonsense. It is really not that complicated.


His services were recommended by others on this board for newbies. He will pick up from San Diego airport and accompany you till the HK Limo across the bridge. He also provides other guide services if needed but I don't need that in this case. Mainly he will pick up from San Diego airport and ensure that you get on the HK limo.

[Ctytek]

That's another piece of bad advice. Dirty street taco stands and greasy Azul bar food are the last places I'd be caught eating in Tijuana. There are plenty of wonderful restaurants a short distance from the Zona. Tijuana is actually a well known center of Mexican gastronomy. Well worth venturing out of the Zona.


Recommended places to eat are the tacos stands and Azul. The most popular stand is the one on the corner left of the HK main door if you are exiting. Teresa's cart which is on Hacienda corner is good too. HK's restaurant Azul is decent. You can access it through Cascadas and also invite HK chicas there if you wish. There's various other eateries in the area but I won't waste time writing about them as this is a mongering trip not a foodie vacation.

[Ctytek]

Even at 77 - the old dude still needs poon-tang. That's encouraging. Although, you would think that someone worth $6 be could find a more discrete way to obtain it, as opposed to patronizing these shady spas.


This is stupid. This widower went to a massage spa for simple sex. Money in exchange of sex. Time and again across Canada and USA Raids on spas. I am all for protecting workers and keeping it in control but this is not the way.

The safety of the spa is gone and sex workers face uncertainty including pimps and bad johns. The crave for sex is a drive built into all of us so that humanity lives on, and the man got a charge and his name plastered all over the news, for one of the most natural drives we have.

Sr.

[Captain Solo]

According to news reports, cops planted secret video cameras and recorded guys engaging in prostitution in a month-long investigation. Cops says hundreds will be indicted.

This is a new and extremely aggressive tactics in investigating [CodeWord908] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord908) and prostitution, even more aggressive than investigations of spies and terrorists. Cops say sex workers cook food in the back door and sleep on massage tables. How did they manage to plant secret cameras?

Guys who hunt for girls on the streets and in massage joints will eventually make mistakes and get caught by the iron hands of LE. Lives will be ruined.

There are probably millions of beautiful, hot-blooded American women who would love to legally do this kind of sex work to supplement family incomes. But we are not bringing this kind of job home. Instead we are outsourcing the jobs to foreigners, then call them trafficked victims when caught and give them permanent visa to stay in sympathy. Fierce anti-prostitution laws actually create opportunities for [CodeWord908] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord908), enriching pimps to exploit women, driving violent sexual crimes, reducing national productivity and creativity, probably losing dozen billions in tax revenue while costing billions in LE resources every year, a lose-lose situation, only the pimps win in this system!

It's a huge story in both sports and politics.

By Emily Stewart and Dylan Scott Feb 22,2019, 4:00 pm EST.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/22/18236567/robert-kraft-soliciting-prostitution-florida-trump-spa

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been charged with misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution in connection with a Florida spa with potential ties to [CodeWord908] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord908).

The Patriots are one of the most hated teams in American sports, fresh off another Super Bowl win, and Kraft has a long friendship with President Donald Trump, making this a major news story for sports fans and political junkies alike.

Kraft is among some two dozen individuals being charged by police in Jupiter, Florida. Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter is part of a months-long investigation into spas and paid sex in the area, according to the local outlet TCPalm. Investigators allege that women there and in multiple other spas that have been shut down were involved in "sexual servitude. "

The Associated Press reports that about 200 arrests warrants have been issued in recent days. The alleged [CodeWord908] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord908) ring involved reportedly has connections to China and New York, and officials are seizing more $2 million in assets as part of the investigation.

Police appear to have secretly taped the happenings inside the massage parlors. Kraft was reportedly captured on surveillance video engaging in a sex act with an employee at the spa.

MORE: Authorities, who set up hidden cameras at the day spa, said there's video evidence of all of all of the suspects, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, participating in the alleged acts. http://abcn.ws/2E6aU1d.

Kraft denied through a spokesperson that he engaged in any illegal activity; the spokesperson added that because this is a judicial matter, there won't be further comments.

News like this about any billionaire would be a big deal. With Kraft, it's probably even bigger.

News of the charges against Kraft quickly swept across the airwaves and the internet on Friday. Even Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr expressed dismay at the developments.

"We're as equally as stunned as everyone else," Kerr told reporters.

Kraft, 77, bought the Patriots in 1994 for $172 million. According to Forbes, the team is now worth $3. 7 billion and is the second most valuable football team. Kraft himself has an estimated net worth of $6. 6 billion. He is a widower; his wife, Myra Hiatt Kraft, died in 2011. The AP reports that he has been dating 39-year-old actress Ricki Noel Lander since 2012.

While the Patriots, who won the Super Bowl earlier this month against the LOS Angeles Rams, have built maybe the most impressive dynasty in professional sports, they have also become the biggest villain in the biggest sports league in America.

Vox's Aja Romano recently laid out the reasons for the widespread Patriot hate, and there are a lot of them, including that Boston sports fans are notoriously obnoxious and that fans from other cities are jealous because the Patriots win a lot. They've won six Super Bowl championships, including three of the past five. The other Boston teams — baseball's Red Sox, basketball's Celtics, hockey's Bruins — are also consistent contenders and champions, which just adds to the animosity other parts of the country feels for Boston sports. And the Patriots are the city's standard-bearers.

They also get accused of cheating, a lot. There was 2015's Deflategate, in which Brady and the team's staff were accused of using deflated footballs, making them easier to control; it ended with a four-game suspension for Brady. It goes all the way back to 2007's Spygate, when Patriots coach Bill Belichick had staff illegally videotape the hand signals of other teams.

So you have perennial winners with some apparently lax ethics. That would be enough to turn on the schadenfreude when Friday's news broke. But Kraft and his football team also have the somewhat dubious distinction of being favorites of Donald Trump's.

Kraft and the Patriots have been derided for their coziness with Donald Trump too.

Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady and Kraft also have a long history of being chummy with the president, as Romano lays out:

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is an established friend of the Trump family and donated $1 million to Donald Trump's inauguration celebrations after the 2016 election. Coach Belichick is likewise a known Trump associate. And while quarterback Tom Brady's wife, the supermodel Gisele beündchen, has distanced herself and her husband from endorsing Trump, she's a bit of an outlier: Trump has proclaimed that Brady is a supporter, Brady has expressed his admiration of Trump in the past. "It's pretty amazing what he's been able to accomplish" — and, well, there's the Make America Great Again cap that appeared in Brady's locker during Trump's campaign. Recently, no less than Harry Potter himself explicitly cited the hat as a reason he'll be rooting for the Rams on Sunday.

On the campaign trail in 2016, Trump read a letter from Belichick congratulating him on a "tremendous campaign" and telling him he had "dealt with an unbelievable slanted and negative media, and come out beautifully. " Belichick later said that the pair had been friends for "many years" and that the letter was not politically motivated.

Trump often publicly praises the Patriots and their victories as well. The 2017 Super Bowl between Atlanta and New England, between a mostly black city and the MAGA-anointed New Englanders, took on a uniquely political vibe, especially after Trump insulted civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) shortly before the game. The Patriots won with a historic 25-point comeback, salt in the wounds for their non-fans.

In reaction to the news about Kraft on Friday, the president told reporters he was "surprised" at the charges and pointed out that Kraft "denies it," a line typical of Trump in circumstances where powerful men face allegations of bad behavior.

All that backstory gave Kraft's enemies plenty of fodder after news of the charges broke — so there was a lot of celebrating on Twitter.

Nick Jack Pappas.

✔.

At Pappiness.

Robert Kraft:

- 2001 Super Bowl Ring.

- 2003 Super Bowl Ring.

- 2004 Super Bowl Ring.

- 2014 Super Bowl Ring.

- 2016 Super Bowl Ring.

- 2018 Super Bowl Ring.

- 2019 Prostitution Ring.

As Christian the'Andrea at SB Nation explained, the allegations against Kraft could get him into hot water with the NFL and will likely lead to a suspension and sizable fine. The last NFL team owner to be disciplined was Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who was arrested on suspicion of a DUI and drug possession in 2014. He got a six-game suspension and a $500,000 fine.

The NFL said in a statement that the league is "aware of the ongoing law enforcement matter and will continue to monitor developments."

There's probably a lot more coming here, and not just about Kraft.

While Kraft's storyline may be the most sensational aspect of all this, authorities say there is a lot more to come out of this broader investigation.

On the heels of separate arrests related to the same investigation earlier this week, Martin County, Florida, Sheriff William Snyder said that "dozens and dozens" of arrests were yet to come and the information already available to the public is "the tip of the iceberg."

"They were cooking on the back steps of the business. These women were sleeping in massage parlors, on the massage tables and had no access to transportation," said Synder, according to the local outlet WPTV, adding that the victims were averaging eight clients a day. "If you do the math, that is about 1,500 men a year, with no days off."

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter said in a radio interview on Friday that he had been told Kraft "is not the biggest name involved" in the investigation. "This story is going to heat up and get a lot worse," he said. "And I don't mean involving Robert Kraft, I'm talking about with all of the [CodeWord908] (http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord908) that has gone on down there."

[Baxter Slade]

And my take on the Kraft situation. All charges will be dropped.

While dealing with prostitution charges in the USA Are something you are risking if you don't choose Tijuana or other places where its legal.

But in the USA If you can afford good legal counsel they can make the charges disapear.

[Phordphan]

His services were recommended by others on this board for newbies. He will pick up from San Diego airport and accompany you till the HK Limo across the bridge. He also provides other guide services if needed but I don't need that in this case. Mainly he will pick up from San Diego airport and ensure that you get on the HK limo.Sigh. The problem newbies have is that they aren't able to filter the nonsense from the good advice.

Everyone's first trip was with some measure of trepidation. Unfortunately, there are two posters here, one goes by the name of a Star Wars character, the other uses part of the name of a Rock band. Both are known, respectively, for posting serious fantastical delusions, and for fever-swamp rantings about danger. You'll do well to simply ignore any advice from those two sources.

But I suspect you haven't traveled internationally much. And you're entering the sewer of Tijuana, at least as far as gringos are concerned. But the risk is highly overblown. The worst case, when taking "some unknown" taxi, is that you'll get ripped off to the tune of about $5. The danger of being kidnapped, or of psychic cab drivers knowing you're loaded with cash and assisting the cops with robbing you are extremely remote. You are not the first gringo that the locals have seen, nor will you be the last. You may never be mistaken for a Mexican, but you will not stick out like a sore thumb, regardless of the opinion of some "experts" here.

As others have said, take the bus from airport to trolley, then trolley to the end of the blue line. If that's not good, take an Uber to the border. Paying some random dude, recommended by one less-than-reputable board member, is a bad idea.

Go easy on the paranoia, don't wander off on side streets in the Zona Norte, and at least take some time to explore Avenida Revolucion. It's a far cry from what it was years ago. Oh, and don't forget your passport.

[Phordphan]

And my take on the Kraft situation. All charges will be dropped.

While dealing with prostitution charges in the USA Are something you are risking if you don't choose Tijuana or other places where its legal.

But in the USA If you can afford good legal counsel they can make the charges disapear.It's not the charges, and, frankly, I don't think it ever was. They are piddly little misdemeanor charges, and, as you said, a good lawyer will get them dismissed.

It's the public humiliation heaped upon him by the self-righteous, preening, amoral #MeToo gang and their fellow travelers. Let's embarrass an old man. Let's see if we can punish a billionaire and get the NFL to further humiliate him. These folks in the press are just rubbing their hands together with glee. Just wait. It'll be double standards galore in the press for the next couple of weeks. Until the next shiny object comes along.

[Phordphan]

That's another piece of bad advice. Dirty street taco stands and greasy Azul bar food are the last places I'd be caught eating in Tijuana. There are plenty of wonderful restaurants a short distance from the Zona. Tijuana is actually a well known center of Mexican gastronomy. Well worth venturing out of the Zona.+1 on this.

[LuvMexicanas]

It's not the charges, and, frankly, I don't think it ever was. They are piddly little misdemeanor charges, and, as you said, a good lawyer will get them dismissed.

It's the public humiliation heaped upon him by the self-righteous, preening, amoral #MeToo gang and their fellow travelers. Let's embarrass an old man. Let's see if we can punish a billionaire and get the NFL to further humiliate him. These folks in the press are just rubbing their hands together with glee. Just wait. It'll be double standards galore in the press for the next couple of weeks. Until the next shiny object comes along.If it is true the cops have him on video receiving a blowjob or hand job, charges are unlikely to be dropped. With that said, they'll reach a plea deal and he'll be forced to take a diversion program along with paying a fine. Regardless, totally agree with you that humiliating a guy in the court of public opinion for going to a rub and tug is beyond stupid.

[Captain Solo]

Alberto Quintos works for HK in that job and is responsible to take good care of VIPs with HK's owner. He can even arrange for pick up in San Diego for the scared cats. HK cetainly would want the very best and nothing bad happen to its VIPs.

Alberto Quintos is for sure far more responsible, reliable and dependable to visitors [Deleted by Admin].

[ClamSlammer]

That's another piece of bad advice. Dirty street taco stands and greasy Azul bar food are the last places I'd be caught eating in Tijuana. There are plenty of wonderful restaurants a short distance from the Zona. Tijuana is actually a well known center of Mexican gastronomy. Well worth venturing out of the Zona.LOL, you come to the ratero and drug infested alley of the $12 street hooker and you think you're too high class to eat from a taco cart? You may want to reread Bobster's posts. Anybody who possesses a minimum level of reading comprehension can realize that Bobster is intimidated by the thought of traveling around Tijuana. Hell, he's even somewhat overwhelmed by the thought of traveling through San Diego! Therefore, I recommended some places within the zona where he wouldn't have to travel. I never said these places were spectacular. I apologize for recommending these "dirty" and "greasy" places to eat. Perhaps you could provide some recommendations on the wide array of Michelin rated restaurants within the zona? Obviously as a high-class Tijuana puta monger, you have contacts within the maître the's and can get Bobster a coveted reservation at one of the fine dining establishments in the alley? LOL Tijuana is famous in Mexico for gastronomy. It's not.

[Ctytek]

What I wonder is what sort of cut you-know-who is getting paid to peddle the so-called services of "Alberto Quintos". Way to go to scare and rip off newbies on a useless chaperone service. "Nothing but the very best for the VIPs" - this sounds just like the kind of BS sleazy mantra that the meseros and hustlers use to separate fools from their money.

Don't be a sucker. Spend your hard earned money on drinks, good food and chicas, rather than some dude who will follow you around and milk you dy.

[Ctytek]

Therefore, I recommended some places within the zona where he wouldn't have to travel. I never said these places were spectacular.LOL back. You "recommending" street taco stands and Azul is akin to recommending visiting Food Court on your trip to the Mall of America. Yeah, there isn't much there in terms of "food establishments" on that particular block of Coahuila, besides tacos stands and Azul. If your objective is to never step your foot outside of hooker block of Coahuila without starving to death. Indeed, those are the options.

And even then. If I was a newbie gringo not accustomed to Mexican street food. I'd think twice before eating street cart food. All jokes aside. Sanitary practices of these places are questionable at best. You're taking a pretty good gamble on getting yourself diarrhea, and ending up spending the rest your trip on the crapper.


LOL. Tijuana is famous in Mexico for gastronomy. It's not.For all your claimed experience of visiting Tijuana. You don't seem to know much about the city. Tijuana is most definitely a renown gastro center in Mexico. You can read about it in many publications (example: https://adventure.com/tijuana-food-drink-mexico/). I, myself, am no "foodie snob", but there is some cheap and amazing food to be had in Tijuana.

People should expand their horizons and not be afraid to step their food outside of dirty and ratero infested Zona. That is my advice anyway.

[Scudrucker]

I stated Azuls because room service is fast and you do not have to go out. I found Azuls pizza better and cheaper than Dominos on Revolution.

If you are comfortable with Revolution Ave in the day, Caesars is a good restaurant is very good. I am siure everybody knows this but an afternoon lunch with French onion soup and a Caesar salad is very filling.

I am no foodie but good food is available nearby depending on your taste. I always end up at the taco truck at the end of some nights and have had no trouble (could be the alcohol killing the bacteria).

Sr.

[RikyMichaels7]

Yes, I know. I've been following the discussion. But I believe there was only one individual who recommended his services. And that individual has a sketchy reputation of inconsistency in the information he posts. If you want to spend whatever you've been quoted to get from the airport to HK with someone whom no one else here has verified by actually using his services when that can be accomplished for $10 via public transportation and taxi, by all means proceed. Let us know how that goes if you do.I agree with LDS and I guarantee you Bobster that Alberto Quinto will expect to get tipped handsomely for his services. Don't waste your time with his so called services. And if you go to Tropical, be on high alert for cheating meseros that will either forget to bring your change or they will short change you. I will never order any drink there other than a beer that I make them open in front of me as I was previously given a ruffy in my drink where I was out for like 16 hours with 200 dollars stolen. The meseros at Adelitas and HK are all honest and you won't have any problems.

[ScatManDoo]

[Deleted by Admin]

Can give you the names of a few recent deportees (or guys that hang out in Tijuana to avoid US warrants).

Those guys are always willing and eager to negotiate on your behalf with the street girls to get you better deals and help you to save money.

Their services are usually free to you.

[Bobster65]

I agree with LDS and I guarantee you Bobster that Alberto Quinto will expect to get tipped handsomely for his services. Don't waste your time with his so called services. And if you go to Tropical, be on high alert for cheating meseros that will either forget to bring your change or they will short change you. I will never order any drink there other than a beer that I make them open in front of me as I was previously given a ruffy in my drink where I was out for like 16 hours with 200 dollars stolen. The meseros at Adelitas and HK are all honest and you won't have any problems.Truly appreciated everyone on this board and the advise that all of you have provided. Amazing insight and guidance. Yes to be honest I was scared shitless but feeling more confidence with everyone's advise of using good old common sense. This has always been a bucket list item for me to do and hopefully I get to do it and that too more than once.

I will certainly post to this board once I get back from the trip. I was thinking of using Alberto Quinto services just because he was recommended by someone and seemed to be connected with HK club. Now I will need to rethink this based on everyone's guidance.

Once again a big thanks to everyone.

[Bobster65]

LOL, you come to the ratero and drug infested alley of the $12 street hooker and you think you're too high class to eat from a taco cart? You may want to reread Bobster's posts. Anybody who possesses a minimum level of reading comprehension can realize that Bobster is intimidated by the thought of traveling around Tijuana. Hell, he's even somewhat overwhelmed by the thought of traveling through San Diego! Therefore, I recommended some places within the zona where he wouldn't have to travel. I never said these places were spectacular. I apologize for recommending these "dirty" and "greasy" places to eat. Perhaps you could provide some recommendations on the wide array of Michelin rated restaurants within the zona? Obviously as a high-class Tijuana puta monger, you have contacts within the matre the's and can get Bobster a coveted reservation at one of the fine dining establishments in the alley? LOL Tijuana is famous in Mexico for gastronomy. It's not.At Clamslammer,

I truly appreciate your guidance and insight. If I were able to upgrade my ISG account I would have definitely PM you for more tips and tricks. You are right I was and am scared shitless about venturing into Tijuana. No concerns about San Diego as I have been there several times. It is more about taking the step to go a couple of miles to the south. For this trip I will stick to the recommendations you provided for eating and will certainly be more adventurous on future trips once I get the confidence.

I certainly understand that there better (maybe much better) options elsewhere but will reserve that for next time.

Once again thanks to everyone for all you guidance and help.

Any more guidance and commonsense tips to stay safe is much appreciated.

[ClamSlammer]

LOL back. You "recommending" street taco stands and Azul is akin to recommending visiting Food Court on your trip to the Mall of America. Yeah, there isn't much there in terms of "food establishments" on that particular block of Coahuila, besides tacos stands and Azul. If your objective is to never step your foot outside of hooker block of Coahuila without starving to death. Indeed, those are the options.

And even then. If I was a newbie gringo not accustomed to Mexican street food. I'd think twice before eating street cart food. All jokes aside. Sanitary practices of these places are questionable at best. You're taking a pretty good gamble on getting yourself diarrhea, and ending up spending the rest your trip on the crapper.

For all your claimed experience of visiting Tijuana. You don't seem to know much about the city. Tijuana is most definitely a renown gastro center in Mexico. You can read about it in many publications (example: https://adventure.com/tijuana-food-drink-mexico/). I, myself, am no "foodie snob", but there is some cheap and amazing food to be had in Tijuana.

People should expand their horizons and not be afraid to step their food outside of dirty and ratero infested Zona. That is my advice anyway.Well, I'm glad you finally realized you were completely wrong and I was completely right. I graciously accept your concession. As Bobster stated he is "shit scared" of Tijuana so obviously he would be extremely hesitant to travel around, so I gave him some recommendations within the zona, which now you concede "those are the options. " It took you a while, but I'm glad you're finally making progress and realizing your errors.

So here's another topic in which you should contemplate a little further and then concede again. To complain about the sanitary practices at taco carts in relation to brick-and-mortar restaurants conveys your extreme ignorance of how eateries are run in Tijuana. You think restaurants follow a higher level of sanitary practices than carts? It's the same or maybe even worse! Sanitation is bad everywhere. With a few exceptions, specifically those owned and operated by foreign entities, the sanitary practices of restaurants leave much to be desired. You ever get a behind-the-scenes look at La Perla? Cockroaches have effectively annexed the kitchen.

And again, Tijuana is definitely not commonly known throughout Mexico as a culinary hotspot. That claim is laughable. If you look hard enough, you can find positive restaurant reviews for ANY mid sized city in Mexico or the USA That doesn't mean that it's a renowned "gastro center. " It usually means the restaurants owners paid for a favorable review and publicity. It's like those restaurant articles in those in-flight magazines. 100% bought and paid for by the owner. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

[OneInTheDugOut]

At Clamslammer,

I truly appreciate your guidance and insight. If I were able to upgrade my ISG account I would have definitely PM you for more tips and tricks. You are right I was and am scared shitless about venturing into Tijuana. No concerns about San Diego as I have been there several times. It is more about taking the step to go a couple of miles to the south. For this trip I will stick to the recommendations you provided for eating and will certainly be more adventurous on future trips once I get the confidence.

I certainly understand that there better (maybe much better) options elsewhere but will reserve that for next time.

Once again thanks to everyone for all you guidance and help.

Any more guidance and commonsense tips to stay safe is much appreciated.Overthinking way too much. I've offered to personally escort you there twice, for free, but would rather tip.

Someone haha.

Anyways, you can get to gong king and never leave the building, other than 2 steps to get upstairs to the hotel. I had some issues the first time I ate from the street cart. I say don't eat anything That's uncooked, such as the bowls of veggies. The trolley is 100% safe. And the taxis / limo is less than 100 yards away at pedwest.

[NegotiateHard]

Truly appreciated everyone on this board and the advise that all of you have provided. Amazing insight and guidance. Yes to be honest I was scared shitless but feeling more confidence with everyone's advise of using good old common sense. This has always been a bucket list item for me to do and hopefully I get to do it and that too more than once.

I will certainly post to this board once I get back from the trip. I was thinking of using Alberto Quinto services just because he was recommended by someone and seemed to be connected with HK club. Now I will need to rethink this based on everyone's guidance.

Once again a big thanks to everyone.Honestly, you're probably better off doing what the majority of people are recommending: taking the trolley and then taxi to ZN. If you negotiate with taxi drivers your overall round trip from and back to SD airport will be quite cheap compared to what this Quinto guy is offering. A negotiated taxi ride will be almost the same or a dollar more than Uber.

However, if you decide to give Quinto a try, please tell us his rates to inform the board. Calling him wouldn't be a bad idea to get some kind of price quote. Anyways, whatever you choose to do will be an experience. Share it with us!

[Ctytek]

Are you seriously claiming that one runs the same risk of food poisoning when eating at a taco cart vs a proper brick and mortar restaurant?? Restaurants have refrigeration and running water. Carts follow basically zero food safety. You have got meats sitting in the sun for hours with flies buzzing around them – your only hope is that grill gets most of the bacteria and salmonella before you put that taco in your body. Several bros reported getting sick after eating street food on this forum alone. Those are just basic facts. Claiming that the risk is the same is ludicrous, and just another example of bad advice that I see all over this forum.

Same goes for the rest of your post – Tijuana has a very active culinary scene, and many young aspiring chefs run local eateries that are well worth trying. To claim otherwise just again shows your ignorance of the city, beyond a couple of dirty blocks of La Zona. But keep trying.


Well, I'm glad you finally realized you were completely wrong and I was completely right. I graciously accept your concession. As Bobster stated he is "shit scared" of Tijuana so obviously he would be extremely hesitant to travel around, so I gave him some recommendations within the zona, which now you concede "those are the options. " It took you a while, but I'm glad you're finally making progress and realizing your errors.

So here's another topic in which you should contemplate a little further and then concede again. To complain about the sanitary practices at taco carts in relation to brick-and-mortar restaurants conveys your extreme ignorance of how eateries are run in Tijuana. You think restaurants follow a higher level of sanitary practices than carts? It's the same or maybe even worse! Sanitation is bad everywhere. With a few exceptions, specifically those owned and operated by foreign entities, the sanitary practices of restaurants leave much to be desired. You ever get a behind-the-scenes look at La Perla? Cockroaches have effectively annexed the kitchen.

And again, Tijuana is definitely not commonly known throughout Mexico as a culinary hotspot. That claim is laughable. If you look hard enough, you can find positive restaurant reviews for ANY mid sized city in Mexico or the USA That doesn't mean that it's a renowned "gastro center. " It usually means the restaurants owners paid for a favorable review and publicity. It's like those restaurant articles in those in-flight magazines. 100% bought and paid for by the owner. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

[Travv]

Some guys could use and afford special assistance in Tijuana like that offered by the HK Concierge Quinto. I bet Robert Kraft or some of the other rich guys who got busted in Florida would be happy to pay for a guide or concierge service to save time and mistakes. Perhaps now they will start looking for a place to party like Mexico or Colombia where they will not be humiliated and shamed for wanting the company of attractive women. But average guys with more time than money would likely be better off buying a subscription to ISG and reading the forum and asking questions.


Honestly, you're probably better off doing what the majority of people are recommending: taking the trolley and then taxi to ZN. If you negotiate with taxi drivers your overall round trip from and back to SD airport will be quite cheap compared to what this Quinto guy is offering. A negotiated taxi ride will be almost the same or a dollar more than Uber.

However, if you decide to give Quinto a try, please tell us his rates to inform the board. Calling him wouldn't be a bad idea to get some kind of price quote. Anyways, whatever you choose to do will be an experience. Share it with us!

[ScatManDoo]

Are you seriously claiming that one runs the same risk of food poisoning when eating at a taco cart vs a proper brick and mortar restaurant?? Restaurants have refrigeration and running water. Carts follow basically zero food safety. You have got meats sitting in the sun for hours with flies buzzing around them your only hope is that grill gets most of the bacteria and salmonella before you put that taco in your body. Several bros reported getting sick after eating street food on this forum alone. Those are just basic facts. Claiming that the risk is the same is ludicrous, and just another example of bad advice that I see all over this forum.

Same goes for the rest of your post Tijuana has a very active culinary scene, and many young aspiring chefs run local eateries that are well worth trying. To claim otherwise just again shows your ignorance of the city, beyond a couple of dirty blocks of La Zona. But keep trying.Tijuana enjoys a next-door proximity to San Diego County, which has over 3 million residents. There's over 20 million people in the US's Southern California. It allows Tijuana, which has Mexico's best access to that market, exceptionally vibrant food areas in many parts of the city.

[DramaFree11]

Are you seriously claiming that one runs the same risk of food poisoning when eating at a taco cart vs a proper brick and mortar restaurant?? Restaurants have refrigeration and running water. Carts follow basically zero food safety. You have got meats sitting in the sun for hours with flies buzzing around them your only hope is that grill gets most of the bacteria and salmonella before you put that taco in your body. Several bros reported getting sick after eating street food on this forum alone. Those are just basic facts. Claiming that the risk is the same is ludicrous, and just another example of bad advice that I see all over this forum.

Same goes for the rest of your post Tijuana has a very active culinary scene, and many young aspiring chefs run local eateries that are well worth trying. To claim otherwise just again shows your ignorance of the city, beyond a couple of dirty blocks of La Zona. But keep trying.I tell my friends when I am traveling abroad about how great the food and service in Tijuana. I have some wonderful experience eating in Tijuana.

[Bobster65]

Overthinking way too much. I've offered to personally escort you there twice, for free, but would rather tip.

Someone haha.

Anyways, you can get to gong king and never leave the building, other than 2 steps to get upstairs to the hotel. I had some issues the first time I ate from the street cart. I say don't eat anything That's uncooked, such as the bowls of veggies. The trolley is 100% safe. And the taxis / limo is less than 100 yards away at pedwest.I would have loved to take you up on your offer. Unfortunately I will not be able to make it out there in Mid March as I have some travel commitments at work. I would have loved to have learned the ropes from you. I am only able to visit next week or first week of March.

I hope to be able to make it again to Tijuana and maybe then I can take you up on your very kind offer. If there is anyone going there this week and willing to show a newbie around please let me know.

[NegotiateHard]

Some guys could use and afford special assistance in Tijuana like that offered by the HK Concierge Quinto. I bet Robert Kraft or some of the other rich guys who got busted in Florida would be happy to pay for a guide or concierge service to save time and mistakes. Perhaps now they will start looking for a place to party like Mexico or Colombia where they will not be humiliated and shamed for wanting the company of attractive women. But average guys with more time than money would likely be better off buying a subscription to ISG and reading the forum and asking questions.I agree with you. When a man has more than enough money, his time is worth way more than logging onto this website and reading pieces of information that will save him $10 here and $20 there and on top of that, making the trip an hour or two longer. Millionaires and billionaires likely don't have an hour to read on how to save even $/ E 100 whether it be euros or dollars.

However, if trolley + taxi from the airport is going to make the trip 15 minutes longer and have a price difference of $50 or so, I'd say even based on time, it's probably better to do it our way. This Quinto guy could also have more stuff he wants to sell or more propinas he wants to collect while he's giving this guy a ride. Our new friend is very busy, but unless I'm mistaken I would have to use probability and percentage of the general population to assume he's not in the millionaire / billionaire category. Just an assumption Bobster! Sorry if I assumed wrong haha.

[Adso1]

Tijuana enjoys a next-door proximity to San Diego County, which has over 3 million residents. There's over 20 million people in the US's Southern California. It allows Tijuana, which has Mexico's best access to that market, exceptionally vibrant food areas in many parts of the city.Tijuana has many food options besides street tacos. In the Plaza Rio area are Mision 19, Marinka and the weekend brunch at The Lucerna Hotel; all very good IMO.

[ClamSlammer]

Are you seriously claiming that one runs the same risk of food poisoning when eating at a taco cart vs a proper brick and mortar restaurant?? Restaurants have refrigeration and running water. Carts follow basically zero food safety. You have got meats sitting in the sun for hours with flies buzzing around them your only hope is that grill gets most of the bacteria and salmonella before you put that taco in your body. Several bros reported getting sick after eating street food on this forum alone. Those are just basic facts. Claiming that the risk is the same is ludicrous, and just another example of bad advice that I see all over this forum.

Same goes for the rest of your post Tijuana has a very active culinary scene, and many young aspiring chefs run local eateries that are well worth trying. To claim otherwise just again shows your ignorance of the city, beyond a couple of dirty blocks of La Zona. But keep trying.All I'm saying is that brick and mortar restaurants don't necessarily follow strict food service sanitation standards. There isn't a dramatic difference between carts and restaurants regarding sanitation issues. Each has its favorable and unfavorable characteristics. Yes restaurants have refrigeration and running (unsafe tap) water. Carts have ice and big tanks of water. The main advantage there is with carts is that you can actually see how your meal is prepared. There's no place to hide. In a restaurant, you have no idea what is going on back there.

And I'm not denying that Tijuana has a little burgeoning culinary scene. But every mid sized and larger city has that. You're saying Tijuana is nationally renowned for its gastro scene. It's not. Nobody chooses to visit Tijuana from other parts of Mexico with food options being a factor in deciding their visit.

[Phordphan]

For all your claimed experience of visiting Tijuana. You don't seem to know much about the city. Tijuana is most definitely a renown gastro center in Mexico. You can read about it in many publications (example: https://adventure.com/tijuana-food-drink-mexico/). I, myself, am no "foodie snob", but there is some cheap and amazing food to be had in Tijuana.

People should expand their horizons and not be afraid to step their food outside of dirty and ratero infested Zona. That is my advice anyway.Good advice. I am a foodie. Except for Tijuana, I travel internationally one or twice a year. For the last 7 or 8 years I've been concentrating on going to places for the local cuisine, and not so much the ladies. I've made a point of trying to visit as many locales, and restaurants, featured on Anthony Bourdain's show, as possible. Some were great, some only so-so. Whatever.

The point is that Tijuana is, in fact, a great foodie destination. It's blessed with proximity to livestock farms, seafood, and incredible produce. The Mediterranean climate allows cultivation of some outstanding grapes which, in turn, are now producing some incredible wines. There are so many different places to eat / drink in Tijuana that I almost never eat at the same place twice. Some of the best food I've eaten was in Tijuana, the Valle de Guadalupe, or Ensenada. The cuisine is sometimes called Baja Med, a term that had been overused to the point of cliche. But it's accurate in that it reflects that the cuisine is very Mediterranean in composition and style, but uniquely Baja Californian. You'll not find this in other locations in Mexico. One thing I like about Mexico is that it's still rather regional. You want pre-Hispanic, go to Oaxaca. Incredible pozole, go to Acapulco. An incredible variety of different takes on meat and seafood, go to Tijuana.

Anybody who claims that Tijuana is not a foodie destination probably still eats at McDonalds.

[StRobert]

This is why the entire US male population should move to within walking distance of Tijuana.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/02/22/robert-kraft-prostitution-charges-video-jupiter-florida-new-england-patriots-owner/?fbclid=IwAR3d9HbNWmIO3B-rmIRWHlqnLsswWJEBHKILr8nbEH1VObRfs6IfpJlmBOo&replytocom=719339#respond.

Robert Kraft, New England Patriots Owner, Being Charged In Jupiter, Florida Prostitution Bust.

February 22,2019 at 12:43.

JUPITER, Florida (CBS) Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, will be charged in a prostitution bust in Jupiter, Florida. Kraft, who denies doing anything illegal, was allegedly caught in the act on video, according to police.

On the border of the US and Mexico there are more cities with tolerance zone, but not as big as Tijuana. Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo. BTW prostitution law in the US is similar to Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Rwanda, Uganda https://prostitution.procon.org/ My calculations but I am not a mathematician just on Tijuana's example, how much money loses state of California because it has illegal prostitution. Example In one week may be 1000 visiting men Tijuana Zona Norte spend about $ 150 - $ 200 per person. This is $ 150,000 - $ 200,000 per week. For one year, this is $ 7,800,000 - $ 10,400,000 for 10 years $ 78,000,000 - $ 100,400,000. And now add US tourists dollars spent on legal prostitution in other countries like Europe, South America, Caribbean, Asia because prostitution in the US is illegal, it is an incredible amount of money. US policy to keep prostitution illegal is a great and expensive mistake.

[ClamSlammer]

I've been reading all the posts about food in Tijuana, they go from dumb, ridiculous to down right stupid by people who only eat at the taco stand right next to the working girl house, or even worse, they run to the nearest Mcdonalds because either they don't have money for anything better or are too afraid of the "bad water".

Some of you even mentioned that the good food in Tijuana comes from San Diego, that because we're so close to a civilized city we are blessed to get our produce, meats and seafood from San Diego, Oh Pleeaasssee!I agree that most of these posts about food in Tijuana are stupid. Tijuana is most definitely not a foodie destination. To claim so betrays one's profound inexperience and cluelessness in regards to gastronomy. Sure, as with any mid sized city, there are good food options. But the handful of good options does not make it an international foodie destination. To claim so is just pure ignorance. Foodie destinations offer abundant options for whatever special type of food. For example, Chinese-San Francisco, Cuban-Miami, Cajun / Creole-New Orleans, Korean-LOS Angeles, BBQ-Memphis, Italian- Little Italy NYC, Steak-Kansas City, Deep Dish Pizza-Chicago. To aid in their porous argument, some may try to include Ensenada / Valle de Guadalupe as part of Tijuana. It's not. If you have to mention VdG in a foodie argument to support Tijuana, you've lost right there. Valle de Guadalupe may be considered an up-and-coming foodie / wine destination, but including Tijuana as part of VdG is ridiculous. It's 2 hours away. That's like saying Milwaukee is a deep dish pizza destination because Chicago is only two hours away.

[Ctytek]

I believe Jim0129 was referring to your posts, and he's 100% correct. Tijuana most definitely IS a gastro destination As in. It attracts thousands of visitors from both US / California and other parts Mexico who travel there to sample its local cuisine. This is a well known fact in the actual "foodie" circles. And there are many many magazine articles and TV shows that cover Tijuana food scene. Majority of Tijuana visitors don't come for $15 street hookers.

You just don't know any better, because you spend all your time in the Zona, eating at Cascadas. To compare Tijuana with Milwaukee is so clueless, I don't think it's worth any more time debating this with you.

To anyone else. If you're still in doubt, I encourage you to make a stop at HUMO at Telefonica Gastro park. Order their pulled pork sandwich and a glass of craft beet. I challenge you to tell me this is not the most delicious meal under $7 bucks you will have, possibly anywhere in the world. And I know, because I have travelled and to just about every major city in the world. If you still have room after HUMO. Stop by at Far Niente Cafe next door, and get a piece of their chocolate cake with an espresso. That's some good stuff, that's worth visiting Tijuana for that alone.


I agree that most of these posts about food in Tijuana are stupid. Tijuana is most definitely not a foodie destination. To claim so betrays one's profound inexperience and cluelessness in regards to gastronomy. Sure, as with any mid sized city, there are good food options. But the handful of good options does not make it an international foodie destination. To claim so is just pure ignorance. Foodie destinations offer abundant options for whatever special type of food. For example, Chinese-San Francisco, Cuban-Miami, Cajun / Creole-New Orleans, Korean-LOS Angeles, BBQ-Memphis, Italian- Little Italy NYC, Steak-Kansas City, Deep Dish Pizza-Chicago. To aid in their porous argument, some may try to include Ensenada / Valle de Guadalupe as part of Tijuana. It's not. If you have to mention VdG in a foodie argument to support Tijuana, you've lost right there. Valle de Guadalupe may be considered an up-and-coming foodie / wine destination, but including Tijuana as part of VdG is ridiculous. It's 2 hours away. That's like saying Milwaukee is a deep dish pizza destination because Chicago is only two hours away.

[Travv]

A Tennessee man was jailed on felony charges after appearing to dip his testicles into a container of salsa that a customer had ordered online.

The delivery driver allegedly recorded it and posted a video online, saying "This is what you get when you give an 89 cents tip for an almost 30-minute drive."

https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-news/maryville-man-accused-of-dipping-testicles-in-customers-salsa/1815551455

With the kind of "generous" tippers I've seen in the HK Club, can you imagine what the Tijuana Meseros have been putting in your food and drink? I always tip the meseros after they bring me a drink or food to prevent the testicle or whatever flavored drinks, but last week I mentioned to 4 newbies sitting together in the HK club around 10:30 am, "Seems strange, your waiter looks unhappy to me. Maybe you haven't been tipping him?" "Yeah, he looks unhappy. Maybe I should tip him something. " They all ordered coffee from Azul. Wonder what was in it? A few weeks earlier, another newbie was ordering things and I noticed the waiter ignored him and walked off. Same scenario.


I've been reading all the posts about food in Tijuana, they go from dumb, ridiculous to down right stupid by people who only eat at the taco stand right next to the working girl house, or even worse, they run to the nearest Mcdonalds because either they don't have money for anything better or are too afraid of the "bad water".

Some of you even mentioned that the good food in Tijuana comes from San Diego, that because we're so close to a civilized city we are blessed to get our produce, meats and seafood from San Diego, Oh Pleeaasssee!

Here is Anothony Bourdain telling everyone to dich San Diego and go to Tijuana if you want a good meal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlwETvApw20

That's all you fools.

[Bill]

When ISG members click on this thread, they expect to find news and info on crime, safety and the police.

Some are puzzled by keyboard warriors that are arguing about not only who is right and wrong, but on a topic of foodie destinations, no less. St# Fu (Ret at #.

That's why its important to believe less than 10% of what you read and less of what you see.

As of the last few months, I have noticed less gringo shakedowns, but more areas in the zona de tolerencia where you can find drug dealers and their crews.

I still see what looks like groups of muggers scanning for easy marks.

[Travv]

The alley between Pepe's parking and the Tropical Club appears to be a popular spot for Rateros. I give the mouth of the alley lots of space. When it was raining, one ratty looking dude was looking down the street toward's Pepe's, which seemed strange to me (why stand there in the rain), so I walked wide into the street to avoid the mouth of the alley. There was another guy with his back to the wall facing the guy (lookout?) looking toward's Pepe's. When I walked by in the street, one of them peeled off and started following me, but I just quickly crossed the street towards the HK Club, and the ratero gave up. This Tuesday afternoon, I noticed a couple of dudes testing a stun gun in the Tropical Club alley. Guys beware having a stun gun jammed into your neck if you walk too close at night to the alley to get to Pepe's. Walk in the street where the rateros have to chase you to get close and you have time to notice them targeting you.


When ISG members click on this thread, they expect to find news and info on crime, safety and the police.

Some are puzzled by keyboard warriors that are arguing about not only who is right and wrong, but on a topic of foodie destinations, no less. St# Fu (Ret at #.

That's why its important to believe less than 10% of what you read and less of what you see.

As of the last few months, I have noticed less gringo shakedowns, but more areas in the zona de tolerencia where you can find drug dealers and their crews.

I still see what looks like groups of muggers scanning for easy marks.

[Hargow20]

Personally I have see very little if any ratero's looking to mug people in the Zona recently. ? The drug dealers are stillactive on Constituciion. The drug dealers don't bother me. But I wish the police would crack down on them and drive them away. I still keep my guard up. I always look to see who is behind me. If I see someone suspicious I will stop face them and let them pass by.


When ISG members click on this thread, they expect to find news and info on crime, safety and the police.

Some are puzzled by keyboard warriors that are arguing about not only who is right and wrong, but on a topic of foodie destinations, no less. St# Fu (Ret at #.

That's why its important to believe less than 10% of what you read and less of what you see.

As of the last few months, I have noticed less gringo shakedowns, but more areas in the zona de tolerencia where you can find drug dealers and their crews.

I still see what looks like groups of muggers scanning for easy marks.

[ClamSlammer]

Tijuana enjoys a next-door proximity to San Diego County, which has over 3 million residents. There's over 20 million people in the US's Southern California. It allows Tijuana, which has Mexico's best access to that market, exceptionally vibrant food areas in many parts of the city.

I believe Jim0129 was referring to your posts, and he's 100% correct. Tijuana most definitely IS a gastro destination As in. It attracts thousands of visitors from both US / California and other parts Mexico who travel there to sample its local cuisine. This is a well known fact in the actual "foodie" circles. And there are many many magazine articles and TV shows that cover Tijuana food scene. Majority of Tijuana visitors don't come for $15 street hookers.

You just don't know any better, because you spend all your time in the Zona, eating at Cascadas. To compare Tijuana with Milwaukee is so clueless, I don't think it's worth any more time debating this with you.You destroyed what little credibility you had by your post above. I always state the full truth because I have full confidence in my argument. You state selective truths, because your argument is porous and you know it. You claim that Jim is referring to my posts only. That is a selective truth. In my opinion he is referring to all of us who are discussing food here, including you and I. But unless Jim clears it up, we will never know exactly who he is referring to except for Scatmandoo, whom Jim specifically called out for his ridiculous claim that Tijuana is a food mecca because of its proximity to Southern California. Scatmandoo doesn't have a real opinion regarding the food scene in Tijuana. He is just posting here for the purpose of writing against anything and everything I post.

To continue highlighting the holes in your argument, Tijuana is most definitely not known as a foodie destination in Mexico. You ask a million people who arrive on flights at TIJ airport the main reason they are visiting Tijuana and most of them will say visiting family or business. Not a single person will say because of the food. So I Googled "food destinations in Mexico" and here is the list of the results:

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/the-best-destinations-for-foodies-in-mexico/

https://www.tripsavvy.com/mexicos-best-foodie-destinations-1588814

https://www.thekitchn.com/summer-vacation-for-food-lovers-the-mexico-edition-246118

http://www.veryhungrynomads.com/best-food-in-mexico-top-5-food-cities/

https://www.tripstodiscover.com/mexicos-best-destinations-for-foodies/

https://explorepartsunknown.com/mexico/heres-what-you-need-to-eat-in-every-state-in-mexico/

https://www.libertytravel.com/travel-articles/6-foodie-destinations-mexico-you-need-visit-now

Out of these Mexican foodie articles, guess how many times they mention the word "Tijuana?" None! So I actually have provided third party opinions that Tijuana is not a foodie destination. What have you provided? Nothing. Again, I'm not saying that Tijuana has no good food options. I'm saying that there are some options, commensurate with population, but not nearly enough for it to be known as a foodie destination.

And to add to your lies and misconceptions, I don't spend all my time in the zona eating at Cascadas. In fact, I am a full-time resident of Tijuana and barely go to the zona at all. On average maybe twice a month. I'd be willing to bet I've eaten at 10 x more Tijuana restaurants than you have. And another lie of yours to point out is that I never directly compared Tijuana to Milwaukee. The only thing I did was compare Milwaukee's distance to Chicago with Tijuana's distance to Valle de Guadalupe. You see, when you have to make up easily verifiable lies, you have lost your argument.

That being said, I agree with Jim. Posts about food is stupid in the crime section. This will be my last post on the subject in this subforum. If you wish to continue to have your arguments and lies destroyed by fact, kindly direct your attention to the food subforum.

[ScatManDoo]

But unless Jim clears it up, we will never know exactly who he is referring to except for Scatmandoo, whom Jim specifically called out for his ridiculous claim that Tijuana is a food mecca because of its proximity to Southern California. Scatmandoo doesn't have a real opinion regarding the food scene in Tijuana. He is just posting here for the purpose of writing against anything and everything I post.

To continue highlighting the holes in your argument.In my post, I was writing about the tourist market, not the grocery market.

[ScatManDoo]

To continue highlighting the holes in your argument,.,I think the only holes here are the ones apparently already in your head.

[JaimeBandito]

[Personal message deleted by Admin]

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[WombatEd2]

There is a separate forum for "Food in Tijuana". The idea is that those who want to read and write about food can do it somewhere where I don't have to wade through it to get the info I want about "Crime, Safety, and the Police".

Off-topic posting is simply inconsiderate.

And for those of you engaging in flame war "food fights", there is NO appropriate forum here for that. Maybe there's a good place for it over on NotSoBrightBart.com.

[BigDub2000]

Was at Hong Kong this Saturday and grab a Uber at 3 AM to get back to my hotel. About five minutes into the ride we get pulled over by a cop and the he searches me and my buddy for "drugs" and the sneaky SOB took 120 dollars From my buddies pocket as he was searching. I've heard cops pulling over people driving their own cars and stopping people on the streets for a shake down but never heard of a case where he pulls over a Uber ride. I suspect maybe the cop and the Uber driver are in together in this scam. I've always felt somewhat safe taking Uber around Tijuana especially late at night but this really sucks because I feel this cop will target other late Uber riders and possibly other cops will catch on as well.

[Hargow20]

Always hold your money in your hand when they search you. The police like come up with a bogus excuse that they need to search your wallet. Once you demand they will relent. Last year some cops searched my wallet and stole $40.


Was at Hong Kong this Saturday and grab a Uber at 3 AM to get back to my hotel. About five minutes into the ride we get pulled over by a cop and the he searches me and my buddy for "drugs" and the sneaky SOB took 120 dollars From my buddies pocket as he was searching. I've heard cops pulling over people driving their own cars and stopping people on the streets for a shake down but never heard of a case where he pulls over a Uber ride. I suspect maybe the cop and the Uber driver are in together in this scam. I've always felt somewhat safe taking Uber around Tijuana especially late at night but this really sucks because I feel this cop will target other late Uber riders and possibly other cops will catch on as well.

[Baxter Slade]

Was at Hong Kong this Saturday and grab a Uber at 3 AM to get back to my hotel. About five minutes into the ride we get pulled over by a cop and the he searches me and my buddy for "drugs" and the sneaky SOB took 120 dollars From my buddies pocket as he was searching. I've heard cops pulling over people driving their own cars and stopping people on the streets for a shake down but never heard of a case where he pulls over a Uber ride. I suspect maybe the cop and the Uber driver are in together in this scam. I've always felt somewhat safe taking Uber around Tijuana especially late at night but this really sucks because I feel this cop will target other late Uber riders and possibly other cops will catch on as well.Anything is posible heard of them working with cabbies. I'm curious if they showed any interest in the driver? Or only the passengers. During any kind of interaction with TJs monkees always try to get a vehicle number. Even if the situation is over walk back to there car and ask a stupid question to try to get there unit #.

[BigDub2000]

Always hold your money in your hand when they search you. The police like come up with a bogus excuse that they need to search your wallet. Once you demand they will relent. Last year some cops searched my wallet and stole $40.My buddy got searched first and I remembered this advice from.

Other posters so that's exactly what I did. When he saw me holding my money.

In my hand he did a half ass job searching me and let me get back into the car.

My buddy didn't even realize some of the money was gone until we got.

Back to the hotel. That sneaky cop took some ad he was removing the money.

From my buddy's pocket.

===========================================

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[BigDub2000]

Anything is posible heard of them working with cabbies. I'm curious if they showed any interest in the driver? Or only the passengers. During any kind of interaction with TJs monkees always try to get a vehicle number. Even if the situation is over walk back to there car and ask a stupid question to try to get there unit #.He did engage the driver first and proceeded to examine us but it all could be an act to engage the driver first.

We were so rattled that we didn't t even think about getting any plate or unit number. Real bummer as I have been visiting Tijuana number of times in last few years without any of these assholes harassing us. Really left a real bad taste. But in the positive side I did get to hook up with a real fun chica with stunning green eyes.

[Hargow20]

Where is the best place to report corrupt police. ? They say to report them to ministry of tourism I believe. I am unconvinced this does much good.


Anything is posible heard of them working with cabbies. I'm curious if they showed any interest in the driver? Or only the passengers. During any kind of interaction with TJs monkees always try to get a vehicle number. Even if the situation is over walk back to there car and ask a stupid question to try to get there unit #.

[Baxter Slade]

Where is the best place to report corrupt police. ? They say to report them to ministry of tourism I believe. I am unconvinced this does much good.They say the office of sinductura is the internal affairs type office for reporting problems with the police. I once had a case of being clearly robbed by the police. It was cleared up by reporting the crime to the emergency number and I got my money back.

After giving it some thought and hearing reports of the same cops robbing other gringos. I payed a visit to the sinductura office. I thought if it worked anything like a police dept in the USA Internal affairs they would love to get info on some corrupt cops. Well it does not work like that. I thought it would be like thanks for the info we will keep an eye on them and maybe conduct a sting. Instead it was fill out some paperwork and then you will meet face to face with sinductura attorneys and the corrupt cop. I chose to just walk away. Probably not worth fighting age old mexican corruption. And besides who needs enimies when visiting zona norte. Life is to cheap down there I'm sure the bad cop could have got a ratero to stick a knife in my side for a meazely $20.

To sum it up most of these shakedowns involve a cop slipping a little amount of money out of a scared or drunk gringos pocket in these cases its pretty hard to report. You will find your self 2nd guessing if the cop took something or you just forgot you may have spent it. Then you just have to chock it up to the cost of doing business in TJ. In the case of the OP's story. Where you are sure the cop stole money and if you can ID the cop by car # or some other means report it immediatly as a crime in progress as if you are a victim of a real robbery.

[Jim0129]

Was at Hong Kong this Saturday and grab a Uber at 3 AM to get back to my hotel. About five minutes into the ride we get pulled over by a cop and the he searches me and my buddy for "drugs" and the sneaky SOB took 120 dollars From my buddies pocket as he was searching. I've heard cops pulling over people driving their own cars and stopping people on the streets for a shake down but never heard of a case where he pulls over a Uber ride. I suspect maybe the cop and the Uber driver are in together in this scam. I've always felt somewhat safe taking Uber around Tijuana especially late at night but this really sucks because I feel this cop will target other late Uber riders and possibly other cops will catch on as well.You should get on your UBER app and report the incident, if the driver has several similar complaints he can be kicked out of UBER.

[Muncher8888]

Was at Hong Kong this Saturday and grab a Uber at 3 AM to get back to my hotel. About five minutes into the ride we get pulled over by a cop and the he searches me and my buddy for "drugs" and the sneaky SOB took 120 dollars From my buddies pocket as he was searching. I've heard cops pulling over people driving their own cars and stopping people on the streets for a shake down but never heard of a case where he pulls over a Uber ride. I suspect maybe the cop and the Uber driver are in together in this scam. I've always felt somewhat safe taking Uber around Tijuana especially late at night but this really sucks because I feel this cop will target other late Uber riders and possibly other cops will catch on as well.Did you report this to Uber? While you won't get your money back, a couple reports against the same driver and I would think Uber would take action. They have had enough bad pub in the USA With the murders.

You could save a future Tijuana traveler from getting copped.

[Aviator400]

Got some grief when crossing the new border from the US to Mexico.

When I first arrived, there was some guy standing at the head of the line screening people. I showed him my passport card and 180-day visa and he waved me past the gals checking passports and issuing visas.

The next morning, I went into San Diego to have lunch. When I returned, I showed the gal at the desk my 180-day visa. She started to give me some grief, asking for the receipt received when I paid for the visa.

I asked why I would be expected to keep the receipt. I reminded her that she was the one who directed me to the cashier when I bought the visa three weeks ago. The visa had her signature on it, so why is she questioning it?

She got a little huffy, but said it was OK and let me pass. Am I going to get this kind of grief every time I encounter her?

[TomJackin]

When I returned, I showed the gal at the desk my 180-day visa. She started to give me some grief, asking for the receipt received when I paid for the visa.

I asked why I would be expected to keep the receipt. I reminded her that she was the one who directed me to the cashier when I bought the visa three weeks ago. The visa had her signature on it, so why is she questioning it?

She got a little huffy, but said it was OK and let me pass. Am I going to get this kind of grief every time I encounter her?I cross every week and never been asked for my receipt. However, I do carry the receipt with me just in case. Maybe she was having a "Let's fuck with Gringos" day?

[Jackie888]

Got some grief when crossing the new border from the US to Mexico.

When I first arrived, there was some guy standing at the head of the line screening people. I showed him my passport card and 180-day visa and he waved me past the gals checking passports and issuing visas.

The next morning, I went into San Diego to have lunch. When I returned, I showed the gal at the desk my 180-day visa. She started to give me some grief, asking for the receipt received when I paid for the visa.

I asked why I would be expected to keep the receipt. I reminded her that she was the one who directed me to the cashier when I bought the visa three weeks ago. The visa had her signature on it, so why is she questioning it?

She got a little huffy, but said it was OK and let me pass. Am I going to get this kind of grief every time I encounter her?Maybe she's jealous because she knows you're going to HK. You should have pointed to your crotch and tell her to not worry, you'll save some for her too, then wink.

[Aviator400]

I cross every week and never been asked for my receipt. However, I do carry the receipt with me just in case. Maybe she was having a "Let's fuck with Gringos" day?I'll know better next time and won't toss the receipt. When I was dealing with her before, she seemed fairly straight, so I don't think she was intentionally fucking with me, but you never know.

I think she may have thought I had forged the visa. I do have a ne'er-do-well look about me.

Next time I buy a pass, I will keep the receipt.

[TomJackin]

I'll know better next time and won't toss the receipt. When I was dealing with her before, she seemed fairly straight, so I don't think she was intentionally fucking with me, but you never know.

I think she may have thought I had forged the visa. I do have a ne'er-do-well look about me.

Next time I buy a pass, I will keep the receipt.I use a passport holder to carry my FMM, the receipt, and my passport card. But only when I travel to Mexico. They are available on Ebay for around 2 bucks.

When traveling to other countries, I use the same type of holder for a copy of my passport.

[StRobert]

Got some grief when crossing the new border from the US to Mexico.

When I first arrived, there was some guy standing at the head of the line screening people. I showed him my passport card and 180-day visa and he waved me past the gals checking passports and issuing visas.

The next morning, I went into San Diego to have lunch. When I returned, I showed the gal at the desk my 180-day visa. She started to give me some grief, asking for the receipt received when I paid for the visa.

I asked why I would be expected to keep the receipt. I reminded her that she was the one who directed me to the cashier when I bought the visa three weeks ago. The visa had her signature on it, so why is she questioning it?

She got a little huffy, but said it was OK and let me pass. Am I going to get this kind of grief every time I encounter her?If you have 180 - day visa go straight to the entrance for Mexicans. You only show visa and passport card to a Mexican officer and that's all. I have 180 - day visa and never have a problem. If the visa is over, go to the entrance for Americans and buy a new one. I asked, and the Mexican officer said that to Tijuana you do not need visa receipt but it's good to have a receipt outside of Tijuana e g in Ensenada, Vale de Guadeloupe, Rosarito etc.

[Aviator400]

If you have 180 - day visa go straight to the entrance for Mexicans. You only show visa and passport card to a Mexican officer and that's all. I have 180 - day visa and never have a problem. If the visa is over, go to the entrance for Americans and buy a new one. I asked, and the Mexican officer said that to Tijuana you do not need visa receipt but it's good to have a receipt outside of Tijuana e g in Ensenada, Vale de Guadeloupe, Rosarito etc.Thanks for the info. I have been to Tijuana often, but this is the first time I bought the 180-day visa.

[WombatEd2]

I understand that you can get your visa online. Not sure if that applies to 7- or 180- day visas. But anything is good if it avoids the the wait at the border for one-day visas!

[StRobert]

Tijuana, Guerrero politicians dispute violent cities study findings link https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/politicians-dispute-violent-cities-study-findings/.

Tijuana's mayor charges that the study was politically driven.

Thursday, March 14,2019.

Politicians in Baja California and Guerrero have rejected a study that found that Tijuana and Acapulco were the two most violent cities in the world outside war zones in 2018.

The Citizens' Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice CCSPJP, a non-governmental organization, published a study this week that ranked Tijuana as the most violent city in the world as a result of its homicide rate of just over 138 per 100,000 inhabitants. Acapulco ranked second with a rate of 110.5.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum acknowledged that there was a high number of homicides in the city last year but claimed that the study used incorrect data and has a clear "political connotation" because municipal and state elections will be held this year.

"It's a fraudulent study with a political purpose, I can't see it any other way. I don't know who could be behind this, we have to review. . . This entity the CCSPJP," he said.

Tijuana Public Security Secretary Marco Antonio Sotomayor contended that the study included homicides in Rosarito even though the coastal city is in another municipality.

Both men pointed out that the number of homicides in Tijuana has fallen in 2019.

In response to the mayor's claim, CCSPJP president José Antonio Ortega told the newspaper El Sol de Tijuana that the study has no political purpose other than to encourage authorities to implement policies that improve public security.

"We do this study with complete methodological rigor precisely so that authorities, the media and the population pay attention to the murderous violence. . . And establish different policies in order to get out of this horrific ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world," he said.

In Guerrero, Governor Héctor Astudillo rejected Acapulco's second-place ranking.

"I reject it because the indicators we have from the National Public Security System tell us that we're in fourth place for homicides per 100,000 inhabitants and sixth place for the sheer number of homicides," he said.

The governor conceded that violence in the faded Pacific coast resort city is an ongoing problem that "requires attention" but charged that authorities are working every day to combat insecurity and that crime rates are already falling.

"I don't accept that Acapulco is the second most violent city," Astudillo reiterated.

Acapulco Mayor Adela Romáand Ocampo expressed a similar sentiment, charging that the CCSPJP didn't take into account the "hard facts" that show that violence in the port city is going down.

"I categorically reject it the ranking because we went down to fourth and sixth place for intentional homicides. . . ".

Source: Milenio, Frontera.Info , El Sol de Tijuana Digital Guerrero.

[Captain Solo]

Saturday night after midnight we were driving back on Benito Juarez towards the border via the medical lane. At the Miguel Negrete intersection, one block before the street splits out in three, with lots of body shops and the Haitian flop houses, 5 cop cars parked on both sides of the street flashing red and blue beacons. They were stopping and looking into each car at that intersection.

The road block was not an alcohol check point usually set up after midnight with the big truck flashing its yellow beacon, keeping a couple pretty girls, who run the breath analyzer, warm. The old, hardened cop looked hard into our car. I asked him "Qure pasa?" he quickly waved us through. They did pull over a few cars with California plates but definitely were not looking for drunk drivers. Perhaps the mayor wanted them to catch the little pendejo who fucked both his daughter and his wife and made them both pregnant, or perhaps the cartel guys who were late with installments hehe.

Glad Tijuana's tax dollar is putting policias to do something besides hanging out near La Zona to shake down gringos for morditas. Tijuana should try to hold the world's record for the largest number of hot, sexy, nubile female bodies in bars, not cold, stiff, bloody, rotting bodies in the morgue. Have to find alternate route South to avoid that check point and get to Pade Kino / Sentri lanes in the future. It's strange but Tijuana has no, read zero, policia patrol outside of la Zona Norte, nada! Perhaps the bars pool their money and donate heavily to the mayor's charity foundation every month.

[DramaFree11]

Saturday night after midnight we were driving back on Benito Juarez towards the border via the medical lane. At the Miguel Negrete intersection, one block before the street splits out in three, with lots of body shops and the Haitian flop houses, 5 cop cars parked on both sides of the street flashing red and blue beacons. They were stopping and looking into each car at that intersection.

The road block was not an alcohol check point usually set up after midnight with the big truck flashing its yellow beacon, keeping a couple pretty girls, who run the breath analyzer, warm. The old, hardened cop looked hard into our car. I asked him "Qure pasa?" he quickly waved us through. They did pull over a few cars with California plates but definitely were not looking for drunk drivers. Perhaps the mayor wanted them to catch the little pendejo who fucked both his daughter and his wife and made them both pregnant, or perhaps the cartel guys who were late with installments hehe.

Glad Tijuana's tax dollar is putting policias to do something besides hanging out near La Zona to shake down gringos for morditas. Tijuana should try to hold the world's record for the largest number of hot, sexy, nubile female bodies in bars, not cold, stiff, bloody, rotting bodies in the morgue. Have to find alternate route South to avoid that check point and get to Pade Kino / Sentri lanes in the future. It's strange but Tijuana has no, read zero, policia patrol outside of la Zona Norte, nada! Perhaps the bars pool their money and donate heavily to the mayor's charity foundation every month.Sorry, just not the risk of driving into Tijuana now, to save a few bucks. Until everything levels out, just park, walk across the border and take UBer. Just not worth saving a few bucks.

[Travv]

https://www.breitbart.com .

6 April 2019.

Robert Arce.

"Cartel-related drug violence continues in the border city of Tijuana with 21 killings registered in less than a 48-hour period. Those deaths include three bodies abandoned in a burning vehicle.

The killings began just after midnight on Wednesday when firefighters received a call about an abandoned vehicle burning on a dirt road in colonia Cañón del Padre. After firefighters extinguished the flames, they discovered the badly burned corpse of an unknown victim in the back seat. Upon opening the trunk, they then discovered two more badly burned bodies, according to local media reports. . . "

Commenter: "There's a hot time in the old town tonight!" General advice if you do not want to visit the Tijuana morgue: Avoid being near dudes yelling "Cuanto, Cuanto. . . They tend to be bullet magnets".

[DramaFree11]

https://www.breitbart.com .

6 April 2019.

Robert Arce.

"Cartel-related drug violence continues in the border city of Tijuana with 21 killings registered in less than a 48-hour period. Those deaths include three bodies abandoned in a burning vehicle.

The killings began just after midnight on Wednesday when firefighters received a call about an abandoned vehicle burning on a dirt road in colonia Can del Padre. After firefighters extinguished the flames, they discovered the badly burned corpse of an unknown victim in the back seat. Upon opening the trunk, they then discovered two more badly burned bodies, according to local media reports. . . "

Commenter: "There's a hot time in the old town tonight!" General advice if you do not want to visit the Tijuana morgue: Avoid being near dudes yelling "Cuanto, Cuanto. . . They tend to be bullet magnets".Yes, it is getting worse all over Mexico and probably with get much worse before if gets better. Time to be very careful.

[LovesToSploog]

For what is it, people tend to think that tijuana is one area in a city but in reality it's a large city with different little neighborhoods. I read the article and looked up the neighborhoods where the murders happened and I highly doubt anyone will be going off into the neighborhood in the day let alone the night. If you are venturing off to those neighborhoods, you're looking for trouble and trouble will obviously find you. The main area in the revolucion is safe, hell military humvees patrol the area. I went there last week from Friday to Sunday night and I couldn't believe how sprawling it was. A better context to the article should be posted since most members here won't be trying to find chickas there.


https://www.breitbart.com .

6 April 2019.

Robert Arce.

"Cartel-related drug violence continues in the border city of Tijuana with 21 killings registered in less than a 48-hour period. Those deaths include three bodies abandoned in a burning vehicle.

The killings began just after midnight on Wednesday when firefighters received a call about an abandoned vehicle burning on a dirt road in colonia Can del Padre. After firefighters extinguished the flames, they discovered the badly burned corpse of an unknown victim in the back seat. Upon opening the trunk, they then discovered two more badly burned bodies, according to local media reports. . . "

Commenter: "There's a hot time in the old town tonight!" General advice if you do not want to visit the Tijuana morgue: Avoid being near dudes yelling "Cuanto, Cuanto. . . They tend to be bullet magnets".

[WombatEd2]

https://www.breitbart.com .Is this being reported by any news source that has at least a tiny bit of credibility?

[Jackie888]

Is this being reported by any news source that has at least a tiny bit of credibility?LOL, mongers that rely on breitBard should wear undersized bullet proof jackets when visiting Tijuana.

[Orlanr]

For what is it, people tend to think that tijuana is one area in a city but in reality it's a large city with different little neighborhoods. I read the article and looked up the neighborhoods where the murders happened and I highly doubt anyone will be going off into the neighborhood in the day let alone the night. If you are venturing off to those neighborhoods, you're looking for trouble and trouble will obviously find you. The main area in the revolucion is safe, hell military humvees patrol the area. I went there last week from Friday to Sunday night and I couldn't believe how sprawling it was. A better context to the article should be posted since most members here won't be trying to find chickas there.Los Angeles is a very big city, just like Tijuana. There are many places I would not go during the day or night in LA. I would go to Disneyland 24 hours a day. Think of the La Zona as your Disneyland (Adult) but Disneyland.

[LovesToSploog]

Thanks for the example. I'm from Santa Ana, I'm well aware of the dangers of big cities, however, from that article people can get the wrong idea of going to Tijuana, since most of the murders happen in neighborhoods that no hobbyists should be venturing off to. Zona Norte, Revolucion, zona areío are my stomping grounds and I have not felt any dangers being there with company or by myself. Obviously you need to be witty and aware of people watching you but that goes for anywhere you travel.


Los Angeles is a very big city, just like Tijuana. There are many places I would not go during the day or night in LA. I would go to Disneyland 24 hours a day. Think of the La Zona as your Disneyland (Adult) but Disneyland.

[Ctytek]

Ehh. Comparing any area of Tijuana (Zona Norte or otherwise) with any US city is completely off mark. It is true that some parts of Tijuana are more dangerous than the others, but the violent crime is spread across the entire city. There have been a number of shootings and murders reported in the Zona and other so-called "safe parts" during the past 18 months. Several murders right in the alley in front of the clubs. Just read the local news.

Tourist areas like the Zona and Centro are certainly safer and better policed than other parts of Tijuana, but they are still order of magnitude more risky than *any* US city. The part that makes everything worse is that Tijuana police is corrupt and targets gringos for extortion. So we have to be on the alert not just against the criminals, but the cops as well. We should not fool ourselves into thinking we are completely safe in the Zona.


people can get the wrong idea of going to Tijuana, since most of the murders happen in neighborhoods that no hobbyists should be venturing off to. Zona Norte, Revolucion, zona areo are my stomping grounds and I have not felt any dangers being there with company or by myself. Obviously you need to be witty and aware of people watching you but that goes for anywhere you travel.

[ScatManDoo]

Ehh. Comparing any area of Tijuana (Zona Norte or otherwise) with any US city is completely off mark. It is true that some parts of Tijuana are more dangerous than the others, but the violent crime is spread across the entire city. There have been a number of shootings and murders reported in the Zona and other so-called "safe parts" during the past 18 months. Several murders right in the alley in front of the clubs. Just read the local news.

Tourist areas like the Zona and Centro are certainly safer and better policed than other parts of Tijuana, but they are still order of magnitude more risky than *any* US city.Have you ever heard about the murder rates of Flint Michigan? How about the violent crimes rates in nearby Detroit? Oakland California?

[ClamSlammer]

For what is it, people tend to think that tijuana is one area in a city but in reality it's a large city with different little neighborhoods.Just wondering, who do you know that thinks Tijuana is just a little neighborhood of a larger city named " That would be equal to thinking Las Vegas is just a little section of a big city named "The Strip."

[Ctytek]

I have heard of those. Tijuana murder rate per capita is about 3 times higher than Flint. You can look up the statistics and do the math yourself. Tijuana is the 5th highest murder rate city in the world. You can also add the major level of police corruption and general dysfunction to the mix. This generally doesn't exist in the US on that level.


Have you ever heard about the murder rates of Flint Michigan? How about the violent crimes rates in nearby Detroit? Oakland California?

[LovesToSploog]

Well tijuana does carry a stigma, people I know from Guadalajara and Mexico City, think tijuana is just a dirty crime ridden area. Yet people from Guadalajara forget the neighborhoods outside of marketa San Juan de Dios is pretty dangerous anytime of day and people from Mexico City forget they have Tepito. Anyways you must have not read the article because it mentions like 4 different colonias (neighborhoods) that are far away from the actual zona norte or zona areío but that carries onto the entire image of Tijuana.

I actually didn't know Las Vegas was more than just the strip until I went there and found out about downtown Las Vegas or Henderson the city next to it. Obviously you have to be there to know it.


Just wondering, who do you know that thinks Tijuana is just a little neighborhood of a larger city named " That would be equal to thinking Las Vegas is just a little section of a big city named "The Strip."

[LovesToSploog]

I've been to big cities like Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco, I could compare the need to be on my toes because I know someone is watching whether it be a criminal and yes law enforcement. Perhaps I made a light statement that the zona norte is safe but when you have military patrolling the streets, that assures me that at least someone is watching out for me. Nonetheless I don't go looking for trouble so I am less likely to be attacked but then again I am aware I can't be a total tourist and act like nothing will happen to me. My point is that that article needs more context than just murders that occur in areas where hobbyist should be going out to, it just adds to the stigma that it is unsafe.


Ehh. Comparing any area of Tijuana (Zona Norte or otherwise) with any US city is completely off mark. It is true that some parts of Tijuana are more dangerous than the others, but the violent crime is spread across the entire city. There have been a number of shootings and murders reported in the Zona and other so-called "safe parts" during the past 18 months. Several murders right in the alley in front of the clubs. Just read the local news.

Tourist areas like the Zona and Centro are certainly safer and better policed than other parts of Tijuana, but they are still order of magnitude more risky than *any* US city. The part that makes everything worse is that Tijuana police is corrupt and targets gringos for extortion. So we have to be on the alert not just against the criminals, but the cops as well. We should not fool ourselves into thinking we are completely safe in the Zona.

[ScatManDoo]

Well tijuana does carry a stigma, people I know from Guadalajara and Mexico City, think tijuana is just a dirty crime ridden area. Yet people from Guadalajara forget the neighborhoods outside of marketa San Juan de Dios is pretty dangerous anytime of day and people from Mexico City forget they have Tepito. Anyways you must have not read the article because it mentions like 4 different colonias (neighborhoods) that are far away from the actual zona norte or zona areo but that carries onto the entire image of Tijuana.

I actually didn't know Las Vegas was more than just the strip until I went there and found out about downtown Las Vegas or Henderson the city next to it. Obviously you have to be there to know it.So your supposed friend's ignorance of Tijuana is best explained by your prior ignorance of Las Vegas?

Do any of you read?

[LovesToSploog]

Yeah pretty much, you have to be there to know it is what I'm trying to say.


So your supposed friend's ignorance of Tijuana is best explained by your prior ignorance of Las Vegas?

Do any of you read?

[Member #4722]

Got shaken down by the cops last night on my way to hotel as soon as I got out of my Uber they were all over me. Found my vape pen I straight up told him it was marijuana. He said he was taking me to jail. I told him I was OK with that it was nicer than my hotel. Asked how much money I had I pulled out the crumbled 20 peso note in my pocket and he took my vape and sent me on my way.

[Jackie888]

Got shaken down by the cops last night on my way to hotel as soon as I got out of my Uber they were all over me. Found my vape pen I straight up told him it was marijuana. He said he was taking me to jail. I told him I was OK with that it was nicer than my hotel. Asked how much money I had I pulled out the crumbled 20 peso note in my pocket and he took my vape and sent me on my way.That's a shakedown? LOL. You admitted to carrying a contraband. The only thing you lost was $1 and the evidence that could have toss you into the Tijuana Gladiator Academy for 6 months. Consider it a gift and count your blessings.

[Member #4722]

That's a shakedown? LOL. You admitted to carrying a contraband. The only thing you lost was $1 and the evidence that could have toss you into the Tijuana Gladiator Academy for 6 months. Consider it a gift and count your blessings.I should have stated "attempted shakedown" haha. I doubt having a little personal weed would be anything more than a night in jail. He let me keep the 20 pesos!

[Hargow20]

Yes I agree carrying weed and vape pipe is not a wise idea. He should consider himself fortunate that he got off with a slap on the wrist.


That's a shakedown? LOL. You admitted to carrying a contraband. The only thing you lost was $1 and the evidence that could have toss you into the Tijuana Gladiator Academy for 6 months. Consider it a gift and count your blessings.

[ScatManDoo]

Got shaken down by the cops last night on my way to hotel as soon as I got out of my Uber they were all over me. Found my vape pen I straight up told him it was marijuana. He said he was taking me to jail. I told him I was OK with that it was nicer than my hotel. Asked how much money I had I pulled out the crumbled 20 peso note in my pocket and he took my vape and sent me on my way.Good job Rog123. I'm sure that some comprehending readers here understood your post and it reinforced their prior knowledge.

Don't show the Tijuana policia any fear on your part, and only your bait money.

The only interest the policia have in finding people with small amounts of harmless drugs like pot and Viagra, is how much money or property they think they can extract from you based on fear.

They have no interest in actually taking you to jail or before a judge.

[Artisttyp]

Got shaken down by the cops last night on my way to hotel as soon as I got out of my Uber they were all over me. Found my vape pen I straight up told him it was marijuana. He said he was taking me to jail. I told him I was OK with that it was nicer than my hotel. Asked how much money I had I pulled out the crumbled 20 peso note in my pocket and he took my vape and sent me on my way.Were you arriving from the border to the hotel via Uber? I wonder if cops stalk out the area for suspects then follow them in route?

Thanks for sharing. Glad it worked out for you.

[Member #4722]

Were you arriving from the border to the hotel via Uber? I wonder if cops stalk out the area for suspects then follow them in route?

Thanks for sharing. Glad it worked out for you.No I was coming hope from a long day partying in La Zona it was about 3 am I got dropped off a couple blocks from my hotel on Rev. Wanted some fresh air there was a cop just sitting there about 20 feet from where the Uber dropped me off. Won't make that same mistake again should have gone straight to hotel.

[Artisttyp]

No I was coming hope from a long day partying in La Zona it was about 3 am I got dropped off a couple blocks from my hotel on Rev. Wanted some fresh air there was a cop just sitting there about 20 feet from where the Uber dropped me off. Won't make that same mistake again should have gone straight to hotel.Yeah 3 am is trouble. I would keep the vape pen at the hotel however tempting it might be. I am glad that it worked out for you.

[Baxter Slade]

Yea that was a crazy night. I doubt there was much left in that vape pen.

[Member #4722]

Yea that was a crazy night. I doubt there was much left in that vape pen.Haha I doubt there was much left.

[MikeyMae]

Hey,

Does anyone know why all of the northbound traffic lanes are closed? I checked the border traffic app at 4 pm and it said all lanes closed. Is it due to construction or is there another protest? I was going to drive in next Sunday but now I might hoof it instead.

[Hargow20]

The lanes are open (https://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/mobile.asp?action=n&pn=2504). Personally I avoid driving in Tijuana. The drivers are simply to crazy for my tastes. Walking to the Zona only takes about 30 minutes and I like the exercise.


Hey,

Does anyone know why all of the northbound traffic lanes are closed? I checked the border traffic app at 4 pm and it said all lanes closed. Is it due to construction or is there another protest? I was going to drive in next Sunday but now I might hoof it instead.

[FlapJacK]

Hey,

Does anyone know why all of the northbound traffic lanes are closed? I checked the border traffic app at 4 pm and it said all lanes closed. Is it due to construction or is there another protest? I was going to drive in next Sunday but now I might hoof it instead.Someone ran over a bunch of vendors close to the border crossing. No idea why. I saw a video of it on facebook. Lots of cops and people in a large crowed fighting and arguing after the incident.

[KGB1234]

Hey guys,

Planning my third trip to Tijuana next month. My previous two trips have been nothing less than magical. That said, I hear how common it is to be shaken down by municipal cops. Generally speaking, I'm relatively smart about my behavior and always aware of my surroundings. However, I understand that dealing with crooked cops is so common that it's bound to happen eventually. So my question is, assuming I'm not doing anything legit illegal, what is the best way to deal with a cop? I read that it's good to keep your cash in your hand when they ask for your wallet. And if they shake you down, do they usually just take something out of your wallet, or are you expected to offer them a certain amount of cash?

My only concern is when we go to Hong Kong, I usually take a couple hundred bucks. More if it's multiple days. I suppose I could just keep excess cash tucked away in my bag in the hotel room. I just fear a cop catching me when I have 200-300 bucks on my way there and losing it. But maybe the answer is to just keep what I need on me and the rest in my bag hidden in my hotel. Or use the ATM at Hong Kong.

And for that matter, has anyone had anything shady happen with the ATMs at Hotel Cascadas? I used it last time no problem, and I was very happily surprised how professional and accommodating the business was -- but I fear having my card copied. This actually happened the first time I went to Zona -- but like a dumbass I used one of the ATMs outside on the street. Was just curious if using the ATMs inside Hotel Cascadas was a red flag?

And last question, what's everyone's system for carrying around some extra money just in case they lose their wallet? Like an extra 20 or 40 bucks hidden in their sock or something.

Really any tips for minimizing potential police shakedowns would be helpful haha. I like to have a system in my head going in. Thanks a lot, this forum has been greatly beneficial and I appreciate all your advice.

[Baxter Slade]

Those are some good questions KGB. If you have a room yes wise to leave a good chunk of money hidden in the room or use the safe if the room has one.

Your percentage of a shakedown goes way down if you don't wander away from the main bar area. And avoid being out in the wee wee hours and early morning. Occaisionly I have been hearing of taxis getting stopped and gringos getting robbed by the police. One thing I think may help is to always sit in the front. I guess that makes you look less touristy.

As far as protecting your money, yes you should try to hold it in your hand. That will work in many cases, but if you get an overly aggresive cop it may not. I have heard they will sometimes ask you how much many you have don't guess to low or they will help you get a more accurate count. Some have tried to call the tourist assistance line during a shakedown and that seems to help and they will often back off.

Hiding money works sometimes, just depends how thourogh the search is. I have had a pocket sewn into the inside of my pants. One search they went right to it WTF.

[Travv]

Well, for those determined not to lose their money to the cops, there is the tried and true method shown in the movie, Papillon. For those who haven't watched the movie, here's a hint: Mayor Pete Buttplug.


Those are some good questions KGB. If you have a room yes wise to leave a good chunk of money hidden in the room or use the safe if the room has one.

Your percentage of a shakedown goes way down if you don't wander away from the main bar area. And avoid being out in the wee wee hours and early morning. Occaisionly I have been hearing of taxis getting stopped and gringos getting robbed by the police. One thing I think may help is to always sit in the front. I guess that makes you look less touristy.

As far as protecting your money, yes you should try to hold it in your hand. That will work in many cases, but if you get an overly aggresive cop it may not. I have heard they will sometimes ask you how much many you have don't guess to low or they will help you get a more accurate count. Some have tried to call the tourist assistance line during a shakedown and that seems to help and they will often back off.

Hiding money works sometimes, just depends how thourogh the search is. I have had a pocket sewn into the inside of my pants. One search they went right to it WTF.

[KGB1234]

Thanks for the advice. All has been notes. Yes, I read that it's wise to put the internal investigation number and / or tourist assistance number in your wallet in plain sight. Just to show you're aware of it. Thanks man!


Those are some good questions KGB. If you have a room yes wise to leave a good chunk of money hidden in the room or use the safe if the room has one.

Your percentage of a shakedown goes way down if you don't wander away from the main bar area. And avoid being out in the wee wee hours and early morning. Occaisionly I have been hearing of taxis getting stopped and gringos getting robbed by the police. One thing I think may help is to always sit in the front. I guess that makes you look less touristy.

As far as protecting your money, yes you should try to hold it in your hand. That will work in many cases, but if you get an overly aggresive cop it may not. I have heard they will sometimes ask you how much many you have don't guess to low or they will help you get a more accurate count. Some have tried to call the tourist assistance line during a shakedown and that seems to help and they will often back off.

Hiding money works sometimes, just depends how thourogh the search is. I have had a pocket sewn into the inside of my pants. One search they went right to it WTF.

[Jackie888]

Hey guys,

Planning my third trip to Tijuana next month. My previous two trips have been nothing less than magical. That said, I hear how common it is to be shaken down by municipal cops. Generally speaking, I'm relatively smart about my behavior and always aware of my surroundings. However, I understand that dealing with crooked cops is so common that it's bound to happen eventually. So my question is, assuming I'm not doing anything legit illegal, what is the best way to deal with a cop? I read that it's good to keep your cash in your hand when they ask for your wallet. And if they shake you down, do they usually just take something out of your wallet, or are you expected to offer them a certain amount of cash?

My only concern is when we go to Hong Kong, I usually take a couple hundred bucks. More if it's multiple days. I suppose I could just keep excess cash tucked away in my bag in the hotel room. I just fear a cop catching me when I have 200-300 bucks on my way there and losing it. But maybe the answer is to just keep what I need on me and the rest in my bag hidden in my hotel..All of the Tijuana shakedown experiences I've ever read about is a cop will silently "lift" a $20 from a usually drunk guy while searching him. If you put all of your cash in one hand, and raise them high where everyone can see them, a cop isn't stupid enough to search the cash because there are too many witnesses and it's obvious that he's stealing.

It's not a classic TV shakedown where a cop puts a barrel up your nostril and takes your wallet. That's not how a Tijuana shakedown takes place and unfortunately the shakedown term scares some mongers into doing weird things like tossing his money to the ground and run when stopped by a Tijuana cop.

Generally I put all my cash in my left front pocket, and my left hand always on it unless I'm sitting down which blocks pocket entry. My intent is to protect it from pickpocketers, sticky finger waiters and Chicas. And cops should I ever be unlucky enough to meet a sticky finger cop.

[Baxter Slade]

All of the Tijuana shakedown experiences I've ever read about is a cop will silently "lift" a $20 from a usually drunk guy while searching him. Maybe you never read my story were the cop became very angry I was holding the money in my hand. He actually started yelling you think I want your money. Ha ha ha. He then pulls out his wallet and shows me all his money and says you think I want your stinkin money. He then proceeds to grab money out of my hand and pass it out to people on the street to show me he doesn't need my money.

While this was far from the normal shakedown which Jackie described. You get a far to brazen asshole and anything can happen. At least in this case the outright theft of my money allowed me to call the emergency number and report him and a short time later my money was returned to me.

[ScatManDoo]

All of the Tijuana shakedown experiences I've ever read about is a cop will silently "lift" a $20 from a usually drunk guy while searching him..You probably need to do more reading Jackie.

Stoies of policia misconduct of this type is plentiful on many monger websites. Policia steal hundreds of dollars from their victims sometimes, not just lifting a $20 bill. And they employ a number of different tactics on both sober and drunk individuals.

[Hargow20]

Police will say they need to search your wallet. Insist that you hold your money in your hands. I have been searched by police 2 or 3 times and they will relent once you insist. If you see the cops hanging out on the street it is a good idea to walk on the other side especially if there not many people around. The police tend to hang out on the west end of the alley and search people.


Those are some good questions KGB. If you have a room yes wise to leave a good chunk of money hidden in the room or use the safe if the room has one.

Your percentage of a shakedown goes way down if you don't wander away from the main bar area. And avoid being out in the wee wee hours and early morning. Occaisionly I have been hearing of taxis getting stopped and gringos getting robbed by the police. One thing I think may help is to always sit in the front. I guess that makes you look less touristy.

As far as protecting your money, yes you should try to hold it in your hand. That will work in many cases, but if you get an overly aggresive cop it may not. I have heard they will sometimes ask you how much many you have don't guess to low or they will help you get a more accurate count. Some have tried to call the tourist assistance line during a shakedown and that seems to help and they will often back off.

Hiding money works sometimes, just depends how thourogh the search is. I have had a pocket sewn into the inside of my pants. One search they went right to it WTF.

[Bushes]

FWIW, I hide a couple big bills in not so usual places and the rest in smaller bills to pay off a corrupt police if necessary. Again smaller bills spread out and not all in wallet. I also only carry one card. Taking the cash out before handing the wallet is a good idea. But I usually keep less than 40 so it is not a big deal.

As for skimming cards, the good thing is that if your financial institution is US your are mostly covered. But it will take time.

I was actually surprised a US customs guy in NY got caught palming bills during searches. But they did watch him for several months so many people lost money. Then again, in flight thefts and bill switching is getting more common. TSA and checked baggage theft is quite common. I read one TSA guy actually used an access panel to pilfer stuff in bags.

Relax. Enjoy your trip


And for that matter, has anyone had anything shady happen with the ATMs at Hotel Cascadas? I used it last time no problem, and I was very happily surprised how professional and accommodating the business was -- but I fear having my card copied. This actually happened the first time I went to Zona -- but like a dumbass I used one of the ATMs outside on the street. Was just curious if using the ATMs inside Hotel Cascadas was a red flag?

And last question, what's everyone's system for carrying around some extra money just in case they lose their wallet? Like an extra 20 or 40 bucks hidden in their sock or something.

Really any tips for minimizing potential police shakedowns would be helpful haha. I like to have a system in my head going in. Thanks a lot, this forum has been greatly beneficial and I appreciate all your advice..

[Jackie888]

Maybe you never read my story were the cop became very angry I was holding the money in my hand. He actually started yelling you think I want your money. Ha ha ha. He then pulls out his wallet and shows me all his money and says you think I want your stinkin money. He then proceeds to grab money out of my hand and pass it out to people on the street to show me he doesn't need my money.

While this was far from the normal shakedown which Jackie described. You get a far to brazen asshole and anything can happen. At least in this case the outright theft of my money allowed me to call the emergency number and report him and a short time later my money was returned to me.LOL. I did forget that encounter you had with the melt-down nutty cop. On the other hand, it was a very rare event and he didn't take your money for himself. He just wanted to play Robin Hood. Besides the police Captain have you a refund after a hug right?

[Hargow20]

Perhaps the best thing to do is immediately call the Tijuana Sindicatura del Gobierno Municipal if you are being stopped for no good reason.


LOL. I did forget that encounter you had with the melt-down nutty cop. On the other hand, it was a very rare event and he didn't take your money for himself. He just wanted to play Robin Hood. Besides the police Captain have you a refund after a hug right?

[TomJackin]

Perhaps the best thing to do is immediately call the Tijuana Sindicatura del Gobierno Municipal if you are being stopped for no good reason.Even faster, call 078 the tourist assistance line and tell the monkey police that you need help understanding why you were stop.

[Hargow20]

How do I call O78 from my US MetroPCS phone with Mexico calling. ? MetroPCS sales person told that the 3 digit numbers cannot be dialed. Or is there another number for Tourist Assistance. ?


Even faster, call 078 the tourist assistance line and tell the monkey police that you need help understanding why you were stop.

[TomJackin]

How do I call O78 from my US MetroPCS phone with Mexico calling. ? MetroPCS sales person told that the 3 digit numbers cannot be dialed. Or is there another number for Tourist Assistance. ?You should be able to dial 078 and 911.

I have done it twice, but I have T Mobile. I tested it once and used it when I was about to be shaken down for no reason.

Just dial it when in Tijuana and see if it works.

[Baxter Slade]

LOL. I did forget that encounter you had with the melt-down nutty cop. On the other hand, it was a very rare event and he didn't take your money for himself. He just wanted to play Robin Hood. Besides the police Captain have you a refund after a hug right?Yes Jackie you do remember. Hugs from the supervisor and the crooked cops and a refund. And the money in my hands was a bunch of $5 s. But once the cops were gone I realized the wad of $1 bills that I had left in my pocket was missing. I guess that pissed me off enough to report it.

While the most common shakedowns involve making you think you broke the law. Like having an ED pill or drunk in public. Then they request you can make the problem go away with a bribe. If they don't have anything on you then to secretly relieve you of a 20 or some amount they think you might not notice is common. And then as you stated not that common but there are those rouge thieves masqurading as Tijuana police who will outright rob you.

[Travv]

Mexico's market for $10 fake cellphones bought by fearful locals who hand them over in muggings.

"Commuters are turning to a new tactic when tasked with being forced to hand over their cellphones to thieves aboard buses in Mexico City.

The clever residents are now buying fake smartphones as they seek to combat muggers who demand their real handheld devices.

Merchants are selling the 'dummies' that cost 180 to 800 pesos, approximately $10 to $40, in the historic city center.

Public transportation customers have found the fakes to come in handy when trying to fool trigger-happy bandits who regularly attack the buses, big and small, that ferry people from the poorer outlying suburbs to jobs. . . ".

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7054891/Mexicans-buy-fake-cellphones-hand-muggings.html

[ScatManDoo]

Maybe you never read my story were the cop became very angry I was holding the money in my hand. He actually started yelling you think I want your money. Ha ha ha. He then pulls out his wallet and shows me all his money and says you think I want your stinkin money. He then proceeds to grab money out of my hand and pass it out to people on the street to show me he doesn't need my money.

While this was far from the normal shakedown which Jackie described. You get a far to brazen asshole and anything can happen. At least in this case the outright theft of my money allowed me to call the emergency number and report him and a short time later my money was returned to me.

Yes Jackie you do remember. Hugs from the supervisor and the crooked cops and a refund. And the money in my hands was a bunch of $5 s. But once the cops were gone I realized the wad of $1 bills that I had left in my pocket was missing. I guess that pissed me off enough to report it.

While the most common shakedowns involve making you think you broke the law. Like having an ED pill or drunk in public. Then they request you can make the problem go away with a bribe. If they don't have anything on you then to secretly relieve you of a 20 or some amount they think you might not notice is common. And then as you stated not that common but there are those rouge thieves masqurading as Tijuana police who will outright rob you.This is the type of common policia shakedown was what I was remembering. Policia intimidation and false assertions that over-the-counter Viagra was illegal to possess in Tijuana. Some mongers dolled out some pretty large amounts of money under the threat of being hauled off to Jail.

To Baxter Slade: Why would you be unaware that your singles were gone until you noticed later that they were missing from your pocket?

Maybe I am not understanding what you wrote. Didn't you say you saw the Policia handing out your money to other people?

[Baxter Slade]

To Baxter Slade: Why would you be unaware that your singles were gone until you noticed later that they were missing from your pocket?

Maybe I am not understanding what you wrote. Didn't you say you saw the Policia handing out your money to other people?It was not much later. I keep my money fairly organized. So when I was stopped. Iwas able to get my phone and the bigger bills in my hand and was not that concerned with the ones. After being released and once back in the bar I reached in my pocket and noticed the whole wad of 1's was missing. Never even knew he took them during the search.

On a side note this cop was getting out of control. The day before he had thrown an amigo against a wall and stole money from him. Many in the zona hated this guy. SG's were pissed as they would see this guy robbing tourists and felt like he was stealing money that should go to him. I also later found out the mesero who lent me his phone to report the crime was his godson. (Even he hated this guy) I had to borrow the phone because mine was not working to reach the Tijuana emergency number.

[Hargow20]

It's quite possible that fake police will try and rob people in the streets as well. I have noticed that some private security officers wear uniforms that are identical to police uniforms. They wear patches that say Privada. Hopefully the Mexican police crack down on this before it gets to out of hand. We should all pay close attention to this. If anyone has any recent news please post and report it to tourist info line....?

I https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/fake-police-officers-targeting-people-crossing-from-tijuana-into-the-us).

[ScatManDoo]

It's quite possible that fake police will try and rob people in the streets as well. I have noticed that some private security officers wear uniforms that are identical to police uniforms. They wear patches that say Privada. Hopefully the Mexican police crack down on this before it gets to out of hand. We should all pay close attention to this. If anyone has any recent news please post and report it to tourist info line....?

I https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/fake-police-officers-targeting-people-crossing-from-tijuana-into-the-us).Thank you for the link to that news article Hargow.

The Leyva family employees private guards to patrol their two hotels: Hacienda de Santiago and Hacienda de Posada (formerly known as Hotel Levya).

These private guards dress in all black uniforms. I've seen them often at those two hotels, but I have never seen them engage with anyone. Instead they appear to perform regular guard functions, like "observe and report" to the policia if actual police activities are needed (questioning, detainment or arrest).

Because of their uniforms, guests and residents of those two hotels often humorously refer to them as the "Men in Black".

[OrganicAlo]

Was here for my second time Tuesday-Wednesday, had an awesome time, but found some trouble haha.

Don't have a passport so had to pay 20 $ bribe to cross on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I had just woken up, major hangover. Mucho tequila.

Didn't even get 50 feet away from Hong Kong before I got stopped. Forgot I had weed pen on me. They found it, told me either jail or take the 45 $ from my wallet and put it back in my pocket for them to take.

Sucks, overall, the trip was worth it, thankfully I only had a little bit of cash on me when I was stopped.

[TomJackin]

Was here for my second time Tuesday-Wednesday, had an awesome time, but found some trouble haha.

Don't have a passport so had to pay 20 $ bribe to cross on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I had just woken up, major hangover. Mucho tequila.

Didn't even get 50 feet away from Hong Kong before I got stopped. Forgot I had weed pen on me. They found it, told me either jail or take the 45 $ from my wallet and put it back in my pocket for them to take.

Sucks, overall, the trip was worth it, thankfully I only had a little bit of cash on me when I was stopped.Why do some of you dumb asses go to a different country with out a passport, and even more fucking stupid, bring weed. Just fucking stupid!

[FRobertson]

Why do some of you dumb asses go to a different country with out a passport, and even more fucking stupid, bring weed. Just fucking stupid!Some people love the thrill, I guess.

Or they wish to live a healthier life on a low-calorie prison diet with opportunity for physical exercise, no alcohol, and an occasional sperm snack?

[Muncher8888]

Just dial literally 078 from our cell phone, no more no less digits to get them?

http://www.descubretijuana.com/en/attention-numbers-and-contact-us

[Hargow20]

The article also said for people to be careful for Memorial day weekend.


Thank you for the link to that news article Hargow.

The Leyva family employees private guards to patrol their two hotels: Hacienda de Santiago and Hacienda de Posada (formerly known as Hotel Levya).

These private guards dress in all black uniforms. I've seen them often at those two hotels, but I have never seen them engage with anyone. Instead they appear to perform regular guard functions, like "observe and report" to the policia if actual police activities are needed (questioning, detainment or arrest).

Because of their uniforms, guests and residents of those two hotels often humorously refer to them as the "Men in Black".

[ScatManDoo]

Why do some of you dumb asses go to a different country with out a passport, and even more fucking stupid, bring weed. Just fucking stupid!Well Tom,

My passport has been missing for more than a year. So for nearly a dozen recent trips I've gone with no passport, just a drivers license. The CBP doesn't seem to mind too much. They punch in my CDL number and it seems to informs the agent on their computer that I do have a current passport.

As for your second criticism.

I take the 5th.

[DramaFree11]

Why do some of you dumb asses go to a different country with out a passport, and even more fucking stupid, bring weed. Just fucking stupid!You, are 100% correct. One thing to not take your passport, but to take drugs to a foreign country is Insane. I do not use the waiters at all at HK, but if you must have drugs, ask them or girls. Watch locked up abroad. It can get out of control very fast, you are playing with fire. $50 will be nothing if they take you to jail, add a couple of zeros.

[Scbb1]

I used my passport card to cross back to the US by foot on Memorial Day. Some Mexican girl in line said if I had the card I could use the ready lane so I tried it. It worked and I was through customs in 10 minutes from arriving at PedWest.

[Surf69]

I read a very recent report on Hong Kong's Yelp that police are actually targeting taxis leaving the zona and shaking down the passengers. That level of corruption sounds pretty damn horrifying. I'm a bit concerned because I'm taking my first trip, staying at Ticuan, and planning on using taxis. Is this a common occurrence and what is the best way to handle such a sketchy situation?

[ScatManDoo]

I read a very recent report on Hong Kong's Yelp that police are actually targeting taxis leaving the zona and shaking down the passengers. That level of corruption sounds pretty damn horrifying. I'm a bit concerned because I'm taking my first trip, staying at Ticuan, and planning on using taxis. Is this a common occurrence and what is the best way to handle such a sketchy situation?Recently I have read about more police shakedowns of mongers that were riding in taxis than the number of muggings of mongers walking the short distance between PedWest and La Zona. I still would only make that 2-block walk into LZ during daylight hours.

[Phordphan]

I read a very recent report on Hong Kong's Yelp that police are actually targeting taxis leaving the zona and shaking down the passengers. That level of corruption sounds pretty damn horrifying. I'm a bit concerned because I'm taking my first trip, staying at Ticuan, and planning on using taxis. Is this a common occurrence and what is the best way to handle such a sketchy situation?This has been going on for many years. No, it's not a common occurrence, but it does happen. They are fishing, looking for drugs and such. So, don't be a dick and come to Tijuana with weed or some other drug.

The best way to handle it is to use Uber. Cheaper than taxis, better cars, better class of drivers. Just make sure your cell has Mexico / international data roaming.

[Phordphan]

I used my passport card to cross back to the US by foot on Memorial Day. Some Mexican girl in line said if I had the card I could use the ready lane so I tried it. It worked and I was through customs in 10 minutes from arriving at PedWest.The passport card is, and always has been, OK to use in the Ready Lane. Your USA passport book, too, is good for the Ready Lane.

[Hargow20]

All passports that have a RFID chip in them can be used in the Readylane. The regular passports have a symbol that looks like a simcard. On west side there is no longer separate lanes for Ready lane and others at least when I have gone through. There might be in the mormings when it is busy.


The passport card is, and always has been, OK to use in the Ready Lane. Your USA passport book, too, is good for the Ready Lane.

[Phordphan]

All passports that have a RFID chip in them can be used in the Readylane. The regular passports have a symbol that looks like a simcard. On west side there is no longer separate lanes for Ready lane and others at least when I have gone through. There might be in the mormings when it is busy.All passports since 2007 have the RFID chip. Since passports expire in 10 years, all passports now have the chip. Unless, I suppose, you're trying to cross with a 13 year old passport.

[StRobert]

Monday evening at PedEast border crossing link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmJEznAx0H4.

[John Clayton]

Monday evening at PedEast border crossing link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmJEznAx0H4.Kid was schizophrenic.

[DramaFree11]

Monday evening at PedEast border crossing link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmJEznAx0H4.Just a normal day in Houston!

[Scbb1]

All passports that have a RFID chip in them can be used in the Readylane. The regular passports have a symbol that looks like a simcard. On west side there is no longer separate lanes for Ready lane and others at least when I have gone through. There might be in the mornings when it is busy.I crossed on Memorial Day about noon at Ped West. They did have a separate ready lane. It saved me at least a half hour.

[StRobert]

"March of Unity" today in Tijuana at 5:00 pm (downtown) with important political figures from Mexico. On Saturday, in the city of Tijuana anticipated traffic obstructions and increased security link https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/237561/mexico-demonstration-planned-in-tijuana-june-8.

[Jackie888]

"March of Unity" today in Tijuana at 5:00 pm (downtown) with important political figures from Mexico. On Saturday, in the city of Tijuana anticipated traffic obstructions and increased security link https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/237561/mexico-demonstration-planned-in-tijuana-june-8.Trump has my vote if he can get the HK Chica Cartel to lower their prices back to $60. $80 is 25% more that the Adelitas price of $60. Really outrageous behavior.

[Phordphan]

Trump has my vote if he can get the HK Chica Cartel to lower their prices back to $60. $80 is 25% more that the Adelitas price of $60. Really outrageous behavior.Nobody is holding a gun to your head. There are other bars in Tijuana. There is maybe a shitton of independent chicas all over town. The only way prices will come down is if pendejos stop paying stupid money for quickies.

[Travv]

Saw a new chica dancing today in HK. After the dance, she went over to some guys, talked for a minute or two, then walked off. She came over to me, I bought her a drink and chatted. She was from Sinaloa and didn't seem to like Tijuana too much. Wanted to go arriba and said $100. Told her I only had pesos, so she then wanted 1800 pesos. I told her 1500 and that others were taking much less, but she wouldn't budge, so I walked off. I wonder if the regular HK chicas are telling the newbies to demand a high price to limit competition by pricing the newbies out of the market.


Nobody is holding a gun to your head. There are other bars in Tijuana. There is maybe a shitton of independent chicas all over town. The only way prices will come down is if pendejos stop paying stupid money for quickies.

[DramaFree11]

Saw a new chica dancing today in HK. After the dance, she went over to some guys, talked for a minute or two, then walked off. She came over to me, I bought her a drink and chatted. She was from Sinaloa and didn't seem to like Tijuana too much. Wanted to go arriba and said $100. Told her I only had pesos, so she then wanted 1800 pesos. I told her 1500 and that others were taking much less, but she wouldn't budge, so I walked off. I wonder if the regular HK chicas are telling the newbies to demand a high price to limit competition by pricing the newbies out of the market.When they say $100, I usually just walk away, if they counter I will go back otherwise just move on.

[Phordphan]

Saw a new chica dancing today in HK. After the dance, she went over to some guys, talked for a minute or two, then walked off. She came over to me, I bought her a drink and chatted. She was from Sinaloa and didn't seem to like Tijuana too much. Wanted to go arriba and said $100. Told her I only had pesos, so she then wanted 1800 pesos. I told her 1500 and that others were taking much less, but she wouldn't budge, so I walked off. I wonder if the regular HK chicas are telling the newbies to demand a high price to limit competition by pricing the newbies out of the market.The girls talk, for sure. I'm sure there's some sort of conspiracy to keep prices high. But, as you did, walking away is the best defense. I've found talking and negotiating in Spanish helps, but it's not a magic bullet.

Frankly, I think a lot of times the girls just don't want to go arriba, for whatever reason. If you're just out to make a living, as opposed to making a ton (relatively speaking) of money, you will survive on lap dances and fichas, with the occasional arriba thrown in. If it's not a priority to them, they'll pick and choose until they find a sucker who will go $100+.

[Asting]

Saw a new chica dancing today in HK. After the dance, she went over to some guys, talked for a minute or two, then walked off. She came over to me, I bought her a drink and chatted. She was from Sinaloa and didn't seem to like Tijuana too much. Wanted to go arriba and said $100. Told her I only had pesos, so she then wanted 1800 pesos. I told her 1500 and that others were taking much less, but she wouldn't budge, so I walked off. I wonder if the regular HK chicas are telling the newbies to demand a high price to limit competition by pricing the newbies out of the market.I think The management is telling new girls to ask $100 for arriba.

[Travv]

MEXICO is experiencing its worst ever murder rate with 94 killings each day amid a massive surge in violence between cartels.

The number of homicides has rocketed over the past four years with more than 3,000 people slaughtered in June alone — and over 17,000 in the first six months of this year.

If the current trend continues 2019 will beat the previous year's record of 33,341 murders, which was 33 per cent more than three years ago. Crime levels are so dire the government has called the army in.

Compare this to the total recorded last year in the UK, which has half Mexico's population but only has 726 murder victims. In Cancun alone there was 540 murders last year which shot up from 205 killings in 2017 . . . ".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9446065/mexico-murder-rate-highest-ever-94-killings-each-day/

Might want to avoid Cancun this year.

[Jackie888]

MEXICO is experiencing its worst ever murder rate with 94 killings each day amid a massive surge in violence between cartels.

The number of homicides has rocketed over the past four years with more than 3,000 people slaughtered in June alone and over 17,000 in the first six months of this year.

If the current trend continues 2019 will beat the previous year's record of 33,341 murders, which was 33 per cent more than three years ago. Crime levels are so dire the government has called the army in.

Compare this to the total recorded last year in the UK, which has half Mexico's population but only has 726 murder victims. In Cancun alone there was 540 murders last year which shot up from 205 killings in 2017 . . . ".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9446065/mexico-murder-rate-highest-ever-94-killings-each-day/

Might want to avoid Cancun this year.Do we have a similar press for Tijuana? It's difficult to use a generalization as a safety guide for the Zona Norte.

[Rebel Monger]

MEXICO is experiencing its worst ever murder rate with 94 killings each day amid a massive surge in violence between cartels.

The number of homicides has rocketed over the past four years with more than 3,000 people slaughtered in June alone and over 17,000 in the first six months of this year.

If the current trend continues 2019 will beat the previous year's record of 33,341 murders, which was 33 per cent more than three years ago. Crime levels are so dire the government has called the army in.

Compare this to the total recorded last year in the UK, which has half Mexico's population but only has 726 murder victims. In Cancun alone there was 540 murders last year which shot up from 205 killings in 2017 . . . ".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9446065/mexico-murder-rate-highest-ever-94-killings-each-day/

Might want to avoid Cancun this year.Any tourist among the murdered?

[ScatManDoo]

Do we have a similar press for Tijuana? It's difficult to use a generalization as a safety guide for the Zona Norte.I believe I googled "Murder rate in Tijuana", and this article from March popped-up up: https://www.kqed.org/news/11735361/in-tijuana-police-grapple-with-worlds-worst-homicide-rate.

Excerpts from the article are as follows:

Article Title: In Tijuana, Police Grapple With World's Worst Homicide Rate.

"The conflict zone starts here," said Rodrguez, on an evening patrol in mid-March. "This whole area: Snchez Taboada, Reforma, Camino Verde. This is where the killings happen. ".

Tijuana was declared the most violent city in the world this month, by Mexico's Citizens' Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, which lists the Top 50 cities with the highest number of homicides per capita.

At the core of the violence is the drug trade, and the fight for turf.

State and local police investigate a murder in Tijuana on March 10,2019. Drug gang rivalries led to more than 2. 500 homicides last year, making Tijuana the murder capital of the world. (Tyche Hendricks / KQED).

As dusk fell on the steep hills and canyons of Tijuana, a unit of the Baja California State Preventive Police cruised through one of the city's toughest neighborhoods, in the south-central part of the city.

In a bulletproof vest with a small icon of a skull on the chest, Officer Manuel Martnez drove down a gritty avenue in the first of the unit's two reinforced pickup trucks. His partner, Officer Alfredo Rodrguez, conferred with a dispatcher over the crackling radio. Then he gestured out the window at the side streets.

"The conflict zone starts here," said Rodrguez, on an evening patrol in mid-March. "This whole area: Snchez Taboada, Reforma, Camino Verde. This is where the killings happen."

Tijuana was declared the most violent city in the world this month, by Mexico's Citizens' Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, which lists the Top 50 cities with the highest number of homicides per capita.

This fast-growing border city suffered 2,519 homicides in 2018. That's 40 percent more than in 2017, which was already a record-breaking year. And it's almost three times as many killings as in the worst previous spike of violence Tijuana suffered between 2008 and 2010.

At the core of the violence is the drug trade, and the fight for turf.

That's the war we have now, where drug dealers are killing each other over street corners.'

Officer Alfredo Rodrguez, Baja California State Preventive Police.

Over the past dozen years, organized crime groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generaciand have vied for control of Tijuana, making alliances with remaining factions of the once-dominant Arellano-Flix Cartel, and then fragmenting, re-forming and battling each other, according to police and criminal justice experts.

"There's a mix now: There are Michoacanos allied with Sinaloenses, and Guadalajaras with Sinaloenses," said Rodrguez. "They're fighting with each other and fighting amongst themselves."

Situated on the border with the United States, Tijuana has always been a prize for smugglers. But in the past decade or so, a new market has emerged.

"There are two lucrative sources," said Rodrguez, as the truck bounced up a rutted street. "One is to control the plaza (marketplace for drugs), to cross drugs to the United States. And the other is the local market. ".

'When the bosses are fighting each other and the big powerful mafia-type organizations are at war, it's not clear who's in charge at the street level. So you see more low-level criminal actors running around and fighting each other, literally for street corners.'

Professor David Shirk, an expert on criminal justice in Mexico.

In distressed neighborhoods like Snchez Taboada, drug dealers can make a fortune selling crystal meth on street corners, out of mom-and-pop convenience stores, and the parking lots behind local bars, he said.

"In just one Tijuana neighborhood there are 30 or 40 points of sale, and they produce $30,000 or $40,000 a day. That's just in one neighborhood, and there are hundreds all over the city," said Rodrguez. "So that's the war we have now, where drug dealers are killing each other over street corners."

[Hargow20]

Before the gang members had a agreement to avoid fighting in the tourist areas. But apparently they no longer care. Hopefully this trend does not spread to the Zona.


MEXICO is experiencing its worst ever murder rate with 94 killings each day amid a massive surge in violence between cartels.

The number of homicides has rocketed over the past four years with more than 3,000 people slaughtered in June alone and over 17,000 in the first six months of this year.

If the current trend continues 2019 will beat the previous year's record of 33,341 murders, which was 33 per cent more than three years ago. Crime levels are so dire the government has called the army in.

Compare this to the total recorded last year in the UK, which has half Mexico's population but only has 726 murder victims. In Cancun alone there was 540 murders last year which shot up from 205 killings in 2017 . . . ".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9446065/mexico-murder-rate-highest-ever-94-killings-each-day/

Might want to avoid Cancun this year.

[ActionJacks220]

Planning on taking a little day trip down to zona norte sometime.

Next month. I'm going down with a friend. I'm black and my friend is chinese. We're obviously going to stick out like sore thumbs.

We plan on making it into Tijuana by 1-2 pm, thinking about checking out HK and NBelite spa.

Are we going to run into some trouble? Both of us don't habla.

[WombatEd2]

thinking about checking out HK and NBelite spa.I don't know much about NBelite, but I can answer with respect to HK.


I'm black and my friend is chinese. We're obviously going to stick out like sore thumbs.Not so much. I see Black and Asian guys in HK all the time. They sometimes even talk to each other. (grin).


Are we going to run into some trouble?What kind of trouble are you worried about? As long as you stay in the area around HK, and don't get too drunk, and are reasonably respectful towards everyone, you should do fine.


Both of us don't habla.In HK, most of the waiters and the girls speak enough English to get the job done. But be sure to have something like Google Translate on your smartphone.

When are you going? Maybe you can connect with some of the regulars.

[ClamSlammer]

Planning on taking a little day trip down to zona norte sometime.

Next month. I'm going down with a friend. I'm black and my friend is chinese. We're obviously going to stick out like sore thumbs.

We plan on making it into Tijuana by 1-2 pm, thinking about checking out HK and NBelite spa.

Are we going to run into some trouble? Both of us don't habla.Yes, you will kind of stick out on both sides of the border. Black guy and Chinese guy together. Don't know if you guys will run into additional scrutiny by Tijuana cops or CBP coming back. Tijuana cops will find any excuse to detain and search for a mordida, uhhh, I mean drugs. Forget about NBelite. Overpriced and it sucks. At 2 pm HK will be the only game in town. Probably won't run into trouble. Just maybe the cops. Just don't talk to any males on the street. And don't let the meseros talk you into anything.

[Travv]

"A Utah couple that failed to stop at a police checkpoint in Mexico were ordered to get out of their car and were fatally shot execution-style in front of their 12-year-old son, according to reports.

Paul Nielsen, 52, and Janeth Vázquez, 43, and their son, Kevin, were traveling from Acapulco to a beach resort when they were killed as they drove through Petatlan last Thursday at 3.30 A. M, according to local news outlets.

Some local reports claimed that community police associated with the checkpoint – which is located in the town of Petatlan in the state of Guerrero -- shot the family. Some reports referred only to armed gunmen.

When they reportedly failed to stop at the checkpoint, they were ordered to stop, get out of the car, and shot in the head at close range. The shooters then took their car and left. . . "

https://www.foxnews.com/world/utah-couple-mexico-fatally-shot-execution-checkpoint

Wonder what kind of car they were driving? One the locals felt was worth killing for, like a 4 x 4 jeep? What kind of car are you driving to Mexico?

[LovesToSploog]

I frequent going to a town near the city of Iguala Guerrero (place where the 43 students went missing) could be that the checkpoint was set up by the town vigilantes and they are usually on edge with strangers since Guerrero is infested with cartels due to the drug trade. Could be a case where the town folk felt they were associated with a cartel or the check point could even have been set up by a cartel, nonetheless there's a reason why the USA explicitly states Do Not Travel in that part of Mexico. Outside the resort area of Acapulco, there is a war going on since there are opium fields and rich resources, I doubt it had to solely because of the car, you have to be there to know what has happen as a result of the drug wars.


"A Utah couple that failed to stop at a police checkpoint in Mexico were ordered to get out of their car and were fatally shot execution-style in front of their 12-year-old son, according to reports.

Paul Nielsen, 52, and Janeth Vzquez, 43, and their son, Kevin, were traveling from Acapulco to a beach resort when they were killed as they drove through Petatlan last Thursday at 3.30 A. M, according to local news outlets.

Some local reports claimed that community police associated with the checkpoint which is located in the town of Petatlan in the state of Guerrero -- shot the family. Some reports referred only to armed gunmen.

When they reportedly failed to stop at the checkpoint, they were ordered to stop, get out of the car, and shot in the head at close range. The shooters then took their car and left. . . "

https://www.foxnews.com/world/utah-couple-mexico-fatally-shot-execution-checkpoint

Wonder what kind of car they were driving? One the locals felt was worth killing for, like a 4 x 4 jeep? What kind of car are you driving to Mexico?

[LuvMexicanas]

I am in the Zona this week and here are a few observations. There is a guy about 5'10 in his 50's posing as a cop who tried to extort money from me. As I was walking up the hill on Constitution, he claimed I crossed while the don't walk sign was on. He flashed a badge and said we can settle this here or go to the station. I asked him why he is speaking English and he claimed I was giving him attitude. I saw some real cops and said let's go talk to them and he finally backed off and said I could go.

[ScatManDoo]

A monger amigo of mine and many others often stays at Posada de Santiago (formerly Hotel Leyva). He was there (maybe last night) & parked his big pick-up truck in the parking lot there. A ratero with a gun went into the lot and threatened PDS security at 2 or 3 in the morning and left with my monger friend's truck.

[Hargow20]

Wow that is bold and crazy. This simply another reason why I avoid driving in Tijuana.


A monger amigo of mine and many others often stays at Posada de Santiago (formerly Hotel Leyva). He was there (maybe last night) & parked his big pick-up truck in the parking lot there. A ratero with a gun went into the lot and threatened PDS security at 2 or 3 in the morning and left with my monger friend's truck.

[Artisttyp]

A monger amigo of mine and many others often stays at Posada de Santiago (formerly Hotel Leyva). He was there (maybe last night) & parked his big pick-up truck in the parking lot there. A ratero with a gun went into the lot and threatened PDS security at 2 or 3 in the morning and left with my monger friend's truck.As long as the security guards and your friend is safe F It.

I lived at Leyva for 3 years. Nice staff and decent digs for the zona but the only thing secure is that you WILL BE paying your rent on time and they might stop a girl from going upstairs if they are on the ball. Otherwise it is every man for themselves.

Another issue is thugs hanging out in front. One group of 3 with a baby stopped unexpectedly in front of the garage and the girl went to the office or so it seemed BUT it was a set up to make me think the 2 guys were waiting on her. What it was was a bogus run to the front desk to ask a fake question making me think she was staying at the hotel and meanwhile these two guys were sizing me up when I supposedly let my guard down. I sensed it immediately and maneuvered myself to the other entrance to wait for my guest. They were pissed off.

[Dogers69]

It's Mexico. I have read news articles same thing only they show up at the house demand you sell it in three days hand over all the money. Seriously. It's why a lot people rent in Tijuana. I know a few that can only rent for this reason.

[MemoeNasty]

As long as the security guards and your friend is safe F It.

I lived at Leyva for 3 years. Nice staff and decent digs for the zona but the only thing secure is that you WILL BE paying your rent on time and they might stop a girl from going upstairs if they are on the ball. Otherwise it is every man for themselves.

Another issue is thugs hanging out in front. One group of 3 with a baby stopped unexpectedly in front of the garage and the girl went to the office or so it seemed BUT it was a set up to make me think the 2 guys were waiting on her. What it was was a bogus run to the front desk to ask a fake question making me think she was staying at the hotel and meanwhile these two guys were sizing me up when I supposedly let my guard down. I sensed it immediately and maneuvered myself to the other entrance to wait for my guest. They were pissed off.I'll never stay at Leyva again. 4 or 5 years ago they said my room at checkout only had 1 towel. They wouldn't give me my deposit back saying all rooms at check in have 2 towels. I had no luggage or anything. Just used to crash there when drunk. Said maybe my lady took the towel. I told him I had no lady visitor. Went back and forth to no avail. Place is a joke and rates have gone way up in recent years.

[MemoeNasty]

It's Mexico. I have read news articles same thing only they show up at the house demand you sell it in three days hand over all the money. Seriously. It's why a lot people rent in Tijuana. I know a few that can only rent for this reason.Don't buy real estate in Tijuana. Too many risks. I know prices are high in the US but find a couple cash flowing properties in CA or in another state and live off the difference in Tijuana. You can rent a nice house there for 500 dls a month. Cash flow 2-3 k in the states and you'll live like a king down there. Moe.

[Captain Solo]

Within the last year more than a dozen new ATM machines were installed around La Zona's bar block, adding to the existing dozen ATMs already inside bars and hotels. There is lots of money to be made dispensing cash for mongers to spend on putas. There have been various report of cash skimming from cards used in La Zona's ATMs.

I usually take cash out of the Scotia Bank's ATM in front of Adelita with the Schwab debit card. It gives high exchange rate, charges 90 pesos terminal fee which Schwab refunds. One time it was otu of service, so I drew cash out of the new Banco Multiva in front of Bar Valentina. The next week the cards from 2 of us were skimmed $300 at a credit union ATM somewhere in Iowa. I disputed the withdrawal and the bank refunded the money and replaced the card. I always check activities in the card a few days after withdrawals in Tijuana, but I suspect if you have too many theft cases from your card, the bank may cancel your account altogether.

Saturday afternoon I was in la Zona. The Scotia bank's ATM in front of Adelita was completely removed from it spot. I need pesos so decided to use the Banco Multiva next to it. I wanted to draw 6,000 pesos. The machine spit out 3,000 pesos in 200 notes, then kept running and rolling, but no more cash, apparently it was out. When I checked the account, I was charged $157.81 for 3,000 pesos. Including 95 pesos terminal fee, I was getting only 19 pesos to the dollar. The official rate is now at 19.9, so Banco Multiva skims another 5% with its low exchange rate and international transaction fees.

I will stay away from Banco Multiva and look for other Scotia Bank or big bank ATMs. They would be safer and cheaper.