I Hear the Same as Hobby Fan, And Each Border Crossing Is Worse
the BS is getting worse on BOTH sides of border (corrupt cops at taxi drop off AND ridiculous waits at US border) and is really putting a damper onmaking quick jaunts to the zona Norte. The MexiCoach isn't a bad idea, but who wants to come home at 8pm (just as the action is heating up)?
My friend just got popped there (at taxi drop off point) despite being clean. They removed $40 of evidence when they searched his wallet. I had warned him about that spot, and showed him my trick of waiting in the cab until the cops were distracted by some other poor SOB before quickly exiting and walking into the line, but he said it was deserted when he arrived so waiting for a diversion was impossible. Another trick is to get dropped off by the Yellow taxi stand across the road, then as soon as you get off the pedestrian bridge high tail it left towards the border line and shops where any shakedowns would be more visible. In theory, they placed those cops there to protect gringos exiting taxis but Mexican cops are opportunists and it did not take long before the ostensible protectors began themselves fleecing the flock.
I am surprised to see a wise, experienced TJ hand like CountryJohn suggest "hiding the large bills". ANYBODY with ANY common sense knows NOT to bring big money down there to begin with. Leave your wallet and credit cards AT HOME (or locked in the trunk of your car)! ONLY bring with you what you NEED for the evening! Duh.
I carry enough cash for the night and no more, DL, pocket rocket, astroglide and condoms (unless you want to pay a dollar for a balloon in a foil packet!) NOTHING else.
Take the Viagra BEFORE crossing the border as this has become the number1 excuse to extort money from gringos. The prices asked for V in la zona are laughable so forget buying it there. Costco has best prices for the Pfizer product, but all I have used almost since being educated about V is the Indian made generic called Vee-Tab which costs 50 cents a tab in Cambodia (and other third World countries). You can legally import 50 tabs WITHOUT prescription BUT you MUST declare it on your customs form (which I have never even seen at the San Ysidro checkpoint so you likely need to ask for a declaration form ). And legality has nothing to do with police in TJ shaking down gringos so if you carry V in Mexico it is risky. "We don't need no stinkin badges" really sums up the attitude of law enforcement in that most corrupt part of the most corrupt city in the most corrupt state of the most corrupt country."
The ease of access from El Norte is the SOLE reason TJ's whoring exists as it is (the non touristy whoring scene in areas far from the border or tourist resorts, i.e. casas or chongos, look NOTHING like Adelita's or HK). Even though the increasing hassles are deterring many savy visitors, the sheer number keeps la zona alive despite the best efforts of the bureaucrats on BOTH sides of the border to make the border crossing as unpleasant as possible.
Policia at the pedestrian foot bridge
I went back with a wingman around midnight.
The policia pulled my wingman over agains a tree and searched him, going through his wallet and his pockets ect....
The guy had $10 left in his pocket but they did not take it. He was let go after about 10 minutes.
The policia at the zona rojas now do not have guns. They have a bunch of other weapons and their radios. They can still seriously injure people. I think they are better off without guns. If they run into gangsters with machine guns, they can always call in armed reinforcement or the Federalis.
Withouit Compromising Dennis' Privacy I'd Like to Hear More CJ
Whatever details you can give about this without compromising your friend's position would be appreciated.
The shakedowns at taxi dropoff point sound like they are getting out of control . Add that to the long waits, and driving through Otay Mesa crossing seems like a viable option at this juncture.
Hold the money in your hand?
[QUOTE=Country John]Regarding the cops at the drop off, just be on your toes. If you have cash, hold it in your hand. You will have to develop a mechanism for dealing with them. [/QUOTE]Uh, I'm not too intuitive socially. This seems like vague advice to me. Do you mean pay them off, or rather, this is how to avoid paying them off?
It seems to me (from my experiences with American police and foreign border guards) that part of any "mechanism for dealing with" law enforcement agents is to not *volunteer* anything -- not answers or other information, not money. Speak only when spoken to. Answer only precisely to what you have been asked. If they aren't satisfied with what they're getting from you, they'll surely make that clear.
Have patience: they may make you sweat it out, detaining you for minutes or hours. Once they decide to hold you for a while, they may try to psyche you out by leaving you hanging for long periods.
The advice from you and others, "be courteous, but firm", is of the highest importance.
Back to "hold it in your hand" -- huh?
Tijuana border Travelodge warning
During my last trip to Tijuana, I took a friend and we decided to sleep on the US side. We wanted to be two or three blocks from the border so we could walk back to the border. We stayed at the Travelodge right next to the border located at 643 E. San Ysidero Blvd. After we checked in, we walked across the border and spent the evening in Tijuana. After we came back to the hotel, my friend walked into his room, and closed the door. I inserted my hotel security card into the door for my room, and opened the door.
As I looked inside my room, I found a guy had gotten into my room, he was still inside the room now starring at me asking me what I was doing in “his room” . I looked at him, he was wearing one my shirts and my blue jeans over his pants.
I was still standing in the door way I looked around the room the guy had went through all my stuff and threw everything all over the room. The guy starts to run straight at me and he tried to push his way by me and to get through the door. I was pissed, I grabbed him and threw him back into the room. He fell backwards, and I started pounding on my friend’s door. Luckily, the rooms doors where right next to each other, only a couple of inches apart. My friend opened his door and I started telling what happened . I asked him to call the hotel security and the police.
My friend and I are guarding the door and up comes the hotel night manager and less then a one minute later five San Diego Police cars show up. I had the receipt for room in my pocket. To shorten a long story they arrested the guy in my room. He had already sold some of my stuff to someone else in the hotel a few rooms down.
The police knocked on their door so I could identify my stuff, they ran their names, it turns out they had two outstanding arrest warrants, those two got arrested. Next the guy in my room had some drugs in his procession, and he told the police where he was buying the drugs. The police sent a unit and they arrested two more guys sitting in a parked van a couple of blocks away selling drugs. The total for the night was 5 arrested and the police thought the next day they would get the suppliers of the guys parked in the van. It was a gang that was selling the drugs.
The San Diego Police are great, they really tried to help me. I can’t say enough about how good they were.
It turns out a Travelodge employee had rented my room out to someone else earlier in the day for cash and never processed a hotel registration card. I think he wanted to make a little extra money. When I checked in the night clerk was not aware that a security card had already been issued for my room to someone else. So that is how the guy was able to break into my room. The next day, I went to file a complaint/claim with the Hotel Manager for the items that the Police where unable to recover. The Hotel Day Manager replied, “the night manger told her the story”. She said it wasn’t the fault of the hotel. The police left around 6:00 am, so I never got to sleep that night. I wasn’t offered a free night stay, a discount, not even an apology. Before the police left, the night manger did move me into another room, in case the guys got of jail. I spent the next couple of days very carefully watching my back.
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