Crime, Safety, and the Police

[Country John]

We are OK!

............Full report below.............

I'll be back later this week, maybe twice!

Mike

I am not at all surprised that you and your wingman got jumped. This could have happened anywhere in the Zona Norte, or anywhere else for that matter.

The thing that probably gave you up was the cameras. You have to learn to leave the bling at home or in the car as well as other important things like cash, credit cards etc. This is first year monger stuff and you should have known better.

Why in the world were you walking in that area so late with cool stuff?

Look, if you want to roam around in the Zona Norte, you need to learn how to be smart, low profile etc.; by the sounds of things you already had your first class, a hands-on demonstration of what happens when you are none of the above.

I am glad you are ok.

[One Wing Low]

What a bummer. Sorry it happened to you and your friend.

I am trying to figure out exactly where it happened.

After the tacos, you crossed Constitution and head up the hill, pass the policia station?

You headed further up, at the top of the hill, you turned left, heading towards the arc? There are a bunch of cheap hotels and SG in this area. There are also many mariachis hanging around looking for work. It happened at the entrance to one of the parking lot?

This area is pretty run down with a lot of shady characters. It may be safer to hang out in Coiahuila alley, as there are a lot of security cameras. They are less likely to attack there.

BTW, where did you get the money for cab fares if they took your wallet?

We are OK!

We head to Honk Kong, not a lot happening, we walk through and out the back to the Alley. Turn left, walk the alley, not a lot here either, turn left at the corner to go get some tacos.

we finish our tacos, cross the street and head up Constitucion.
At the corner, Articleta, it's about 1:45 PM, we turn left, walk about 20 steps, at the end of the buildings at the driveway to a parking lot, we are jumped,

on on each of us, choke hold, another guy, again one on each of us, starts trying to go through my pockets, the choke hold is so tight we both pass out. Next thing we know we waking up laying on the ground. It happened in a split second!

I am missing: Canon Digital Camera, Digital Video Camera, Wallet with $200.00, 3 Credit Cards and my Drivers License plus all the other misc. stuff you carry in your wallet.
My friend is missing: Wallet (he took his Credit Cards out) $340.00, Cellphone and his Passport.
Mike

[ReallyaNiceGuy]

We are OK!

Yesterday evening a friend called and said his wife was going out of town and wanted to know if I wanted to go to TJ on Sunday. I said sure, we met in the valley at 10:30 AM, I drove and away we went.

Arrive at the border, cross, stopped at the McDonnell's go to bathroom but it closed, got a taxi and went to Adelitas, it was dead, we walk around, go to the bathroom and leave.
We head to Honk Kong, not a lot happening, we walk through and out the back to the Alley. Turn left, walk the alley, not a lot here either, turn left at the corner to go get some tacos.
Eating our tacos we talk about how dead it is, I tell my friend about Catarina and show him her pictures, he wants to see her, we finish our tacos, cross the street and head up Constitucion.
At the corner, Articleta, it's about 1:45 PM, we turn left, walk about 20 steps, at the end of the buildings at the driveway to a parking lot, we are jumped, on on each of us, choke hold, another guy, again one on each of us, starts trying to go through my pockets, the choke hold is so tight we both pass out. Next thing we know we waking up laying on the ground. It happened in a split second!

I am missing: Canon Digital Camera, Digital Video Camera, Wallet with $200.00, 3 Credit Cards and my Drivers License plus all the other misc. stuff you carry in your wallet.
My friend is missing: Wallet (he took his Credit Cards out) $340.00, Cellphone and his Passport.

The 3 Police cars arrive, they ask what happened, they walk around the street but they never even talked to anyone that was standing around, they came back and got in their cars. As they were trying to leave we stop them and ask about a report or something because my friend didn't have a Passport and we needed something to explain why at the border. They told us to go to the Police station at Gonzalez and International.
We walked there, explained what happened, the guy called the car/cars that were there, they showed up, they talked among themselves and then we are told we need to go to Ministeno Publico Orden Comon in Zona Rio on Ave. Rio Suchiates to get the report we needed..

We walk up a couple of blocks, flag down a cab, show the note to the guy, he says he knows where it is and off we go.
When we get there we are ignored, we try to talk to the lady behind the counter, no English, but she indicates she will get someone that speaks English, we wait. While we are waiting, I go outside to smoke, a nice young woman starts talking to my friend, he explains what happened, the nice young woman offers to help and explains it to the lady behind the counter, OK this is the place and she is getting someone that speaks English.
A man comes, we explain what happened, he asks us to write our information and what is missing, we give it to him, he gives it to the Woman behind the counter, she types it up, prints it out, the guy stamps and signs it and then gave it to us and showed us what we needed at the border.

Flag down a taxi and head to the border. At the counter we explain what happened, he typed in Isaac's information, asked a couple of questions and let us through.

I guess the lesson is: Do not leave the Zona and if you do, take a taxi.

Needless to say my friend wouldn't be back to YJ for a long time. I'll be back later this week, maybe twice!

Mike

[One Wing Low]

It would be so funny to see Serge shaking and sweating in fear as he humps the leetle chicas, wearing his big helmet and full body armor.

Pervs would risk anything, including their lives, for pussies as you should know.

Well there it is for the nay sayers. He must of been doing something wrong, right? He probably just did not get it.

Honestly, the safest thing is to stay out of harms way.

[Double]

WBBM News Radio reports: Officials confirmed today that Sgt. E5 Anibal Beltran Jr., 37, was shot to death outside of his fiance's home in Tijuana, Mexico. Beltran was a 12-year Army veteran from East Chicago and an active member of the U.S. Army Reserve stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and in San Diego.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...n-tijuana.html

Well there it is for the nay sayers. He must of been doing something wrong, right? He probably just did not get it.

Honestly, the safest thing is to stay out of harms way.

[Sgt Perv]

Serg the Perv would be wise to wear his helmet and his flak jacket as he humps the leettle chicas.

I always wear my latex helmet and am smart enough to know that a flak jacket is useless against bullets. A flak jacket is for flak not bullets. Gotta love it when a civilian tries to speak on military matters.

[One Wing Low]

This news means there are a lot of hand guns in TJ waiting for sergeants and ex-sergeants.

Serg the Perv would be wise to wear his helmet and his flak jacket as he humps the leettle chicas.

WBBM News Radio reports: Officials confirmed today that Sgt. E5 Anibal Beltran Jr., 37, was shot to death outside of his fiance's home in Tijuana, Mexico. Beltran was a 12-year Army veteran from East Chicago and an active member of the U.S. Army Reserve stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and in San Diego.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...n-tijuana.html

[Sgt Perv]

WBBM News Radio reports: Officials confirmed today that Sgt. E5 Anibal Beltran Jr., 37, was shot to death outside of his fiance's home in Tijuana, Mexico. Beltran was a 12-year Army veteran from East Chicago and an active member of the U.S. Army Reserve stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and in San Diego.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...n-tijuana.html

[Surfnk9]

Common sense is "common" because the basics are things everyone should be familiar with; don't touch a hot stove, .....

Country John

A cat that jumps on a hot stove won't jump on a hot stove again; it won't jump on a cold stove either.

Mark Twain

[Dylan]

As others have noted, the locals can sport a Norteamericano a mile away. So trying to pass for a Tijuana resident is futile. As for blending in with others who patronize the Zona Norte, a good place to start would be leaving your shorts at home.

Bunky

Hmmm, I dunno about the 'no shorts' thing. I accept the fact that as a large white man with red hair, the 'blending in' thing just doesn't work for me at all, so I like to be comfortable in those hot places, even if I stand out.

I love wearing the shorts, because I've been getting the girls to reach up the shorts/pants leg to attend to 'Mr. Happy'.

It's fun.

Dylan

[Bunky]

As others have noted, the locals can sport a Norteamericano a mile away. So trying to pass for a Tijuana resident is futile. As for blending in with others who patronize the Zona Norte, a good place to start would be leaving your shorts at home. I favor Dockers or similar trousers because they are a little dressier than jeans, but they don't scream rich tourist. Dockers also feature thinner fabric than jeans, which comes in handy if you're sitting with a girl and she's inclined to give Mr. Wood some manual attention. As for shirts, I favor short sleeve shirts with buttons and a pocket. Again, slightly dressier than a golf shirt without being too much. The pocket is a handy place to keep a few dollars easily accessible when I sitting down. That way I can pay the waiters without flashing a big bank roll.

Bunky

[Country John]

CJ,

Again, you're like the 'wise old sage' of this board.

Personally, I have always thought that the 'trouble' in Tijuana was exaggerated in the press, as far as tourists ever being involved. I recently returned to SoCal from Texas, and was reading all the L. A. Times reports, and also checking the USA State Department website for travel advisories.

They all advised not to travel to the border cites, etc., but once I got down there, it was different. I just think a person has to see for himself.

I've always found that the USA Reports were never really the actual reality of life at street level in any place that I've ever traveled, even in Cambodia.

(although there was this one very scary tuk-tuk ride going to a neighborhood brothel down some gravel road.)

Of course, anything can happen. When I go to Tijuana, I go into 'street wise mode' as if I'm in any dangerous city in the USA. New Orleans on the street on a dark night can be just as scary. Maybe because I expect to be mugged it never happens? I'm not sure.

Since I've found the 'safety' reports to be inaccurate, it makes me wonder if the repeated reports of [CodeWord908] have also been exaggerated. I've always been on the lookout for that in order to avoid contributing to it in any way; they say that Tijuana is one of the main conduits for trafficking, but I've never seen any evidence of it.

Ok, just my $.02, if it's worth even that!

Dylan

If agencies and organizations who monitor such things do not err on the side of caution, they are frightened that they'll be held liable if something does "happen."

Unfortunately, America does not have a decent track record of holding people responsible for failure to exercise common sense. If DHS doesn't tell you that a satellite might fall out of the sky and hit you on the head then they're not covering their ass because if it does happen and they failed to take all reasonable steps to warn you then attorneys can open a new vein of gold.

It's interesting to note that NOWHERE on the US governments travel advisory notices will you find any warnings about travel in the United States. I wonder what we should tell people who are interested in visiting the States about safety when traveling in high risk areas, about the drug trade, drug violence, kidnappings, child abductions, scams, abusive police, corrupt government etc.

I remember when driving on the freeway could get you killed and even in recent years there have been random killings of innocent motorists on Southern California freeways as well as other areas of the country like Georgia and Florida. That shit does not happen much in Mexico.

The best place to have wanton disregard for the failure to exercise common sense is when you are in bed, so far under the covers that there isn't even a lump in the bed. Maybe you could get up and go to the bathroom every once in a while but make sure you read all the warning labels on everything you use because "something" might happen.

If you plan on venturing outside just remember that it is a perilous world we live in and you'd better have your insurance in place on your life, your car, your house and your work. Read all the labels before using anything, and check with your attorney before doing or saying anything because you never know; "something" might happen.

Common sense is "common" because the basics are things everyone should be familiar with; don't touch a hot stove, don't [CodeWord140] into the wind etc. Personal security in Mexico is very much a common sense matter, the same as in the good old USA except in Mexico, the cops, the military and the narcotraficantes have taken their fight to the streets. The narcotraficantes realize that attacking tourists does not further their goals because it's not the tourists who are turning up the heat on them, it's the government.

You might say: "Yes Country John, but there are more bad guys in Mexico than in the USA." to which I would call bullshit. Bad guys are bad guys. As in any part of the world, when you walk the back streets at night you expose yourself to a higher level of risk and therefore you are responsible for exercising a higher standard of care when it comes to "common sense" and personal security. If you fail to do this, blaming the good people of Mexico for the result is an injustice to them and a denial on your part of where the responsibility really lies.

Retail in America is suffering from a lack of confidence on the part of the American consumer. I'm certain that people are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they were paying out good money for crap too. Society became a "throw away" society and Walmart figured out that, in many cases, it's cheaper for you to buy another one instead of going through the hassle of returning the piece of shit.

I'm glad people are finally figuring this stuff out.

Well, Mexico still offers a substantial savings over the shit you buy State-side and they got great accommodations, food, beautiful scenery, world class service and an excellent attitude. They are also doing much more to root out narcotraficantes than people are willing to give them credit for; people are dying in the effort.

American retail wants you to stay home and spend your money at the mall, not travel to Mexico. They want you scared shit-less. They want you to think the worst. So they take an incident and make it sound like the bad guys were actually looking for you but found these victims instead.

I don't mean to rant, it just happens from time to time and this one of those times.

My advice is to get the common sense stuff working for you and enjoy your trip. If American retail deserved your money, they would have been taking better care of you as a consumer a long time ago.

The good people of Mexico know they have a problem. What they need is a bit of encouragement, an acknowledgment that people recognize their hard work and a bit of support for the immense effort they put into making your vacation enjoyable.

Crooks are crooks, but you already know that. Remember that you're going to run into them anywhere. You might be a crook. The waiter who short changes you a few bucks, the girl who changes the deal in the room, this is what you should expect from dealing with the bars and the girls. You don't get that treatment generally in Mexico. The service is outstanding on a normal routine.

Be safe and be nice
Country John

[Gilgamesh]

Any tourist turn up dead in T town as of late.....have you been watching the news or reading the paper? More dead tourist-they must have been involved in drugs, right?

Some people win the lottery, others get murdered in Mexico.

Well I do know someone who hit lotto recently.
As far as tourists, A buddy of mine wanted to know about the young kids three weeks ago who lost their friend in a "dance club" to find her later in a car heading back to the US. Her dead body filled with drugs and three cartel types? It sounded like BS and we've go no stories from the paper, but it was a person well known to some of my friends who was with the girl.
Probably just a RUMOR, but I was told about it last night and came in here to read what's been happening. I'd actually be more worried if it's true, not because of the danger in TJ, but for a lack of a story in Google searches.

[Amerioca]

I guess that means that the tourist that was found shot dead in TJ was a cartel memeber or a drug dealer of some sort?

Hey, all I know is that Americans are crossing the border and they are not coming back. Perhaps the news story was all wrong, or maybe what I saw on the tele is not real and I should just take your word for it.

American shot dead in TJ while buying p*****, that is no way to go.

Nothing wrong with mongering imho. I just do not believe that TJ is the same city that is was. It is not safe. The catch 22 is that the police are the ones that are responsible-how do you defend yourself against crooked cops that will kill for a couple of dollars?

I'm not aware of any innocent tourist/tourists being shot down, as of recent. If you have a link to the news report, please post.

This morning, on my way back to the border, I scanned the front page of Frontera newspaper. Last night, two Policia Municipal were gunned down and killed. Also, if I read it correctly, four other Policia were shot, but survived.

Last night, I had a blast at ABs. Ran into brother Quasi King, and breifed him on my session. Tomorrow, off to Rio! Keep your nose clean, and stay low. Life is good.

[Dickhead]

American shot dead in TJ while buying p*****, that is no way to go.

It beats dying in a nursing home, to my way of thinking.