Crime, Safety, and the Police

A roll of quarters is another good, legal "weapon" that is relatively easy to explain. Works with either a straight punch or the safer hammer punch (why break your hand?) Nickels or dimes are better, depending on the size of your fist, but harder to explain. A potato in a sock is good in the Yew Ess but I wouldn't want to have to explain it in TJ, plus it's really meant for the jacket pocket and at 1:30 PM in August a jacket might be tough to explain as well. A cheap metal watch is good, but might attract attention since these punks are too dumb to know a cheap watch from a good one. But slip it across your knuckles with the crystal facing out and you can really open someone's face up.

Resisting is risky. I do it, but I probably wouldn't if I had a family to support. But carry a camera anywhere in Latin America and you increase your odds of trouble exponentially. Don't even get me started about jewelry.

All are good ideas during a mugging (do not forget about the belt with a nice buckle). The best is preventing the attack from starting. I believe your best tool is keeping your head on a swivel because these guys seem not to want you to be able to recognize them. It seems to me that if they know you have seen their face, they will not want to attack you in the first place. Both reports have indicated that they were distracted/fixated on other things. It is like driving, check your rear view mirror every few seconds depending on traffic, so to speak. If someone is trying to hide their face (red flag), then look more so they notice you have seen them. Please keep in mind these guys are attacking with 2:1 odds (another thing to look for), that look-out/pickpocket may come to assist in a struggle (meaning you do not have control in the first 3-5 seconds). Stopping it from starting is your best, safest defense. Just say NO to any bling and keep your money in separate pockets with a stash hidden in your shoe, sock money belt or underwear (piece of duck tape helps secure it) just in case.

I was down in TJ in April and had my camera with me the whole time while walking to the zone and back to the hotel a few times each day and never had a problem. The camera was in a pouch hanging from my belt though, but I did pull it out a bunch of times to take pics day and night. I was with a buddy too, but definately always kept our heads on a swivel just to make sure no one came by suddenly. I'm sure the same thing that happened in TJ can happen in any large city. That's my 2 cents.

Cloude

[QUOTE=Precocious One]I know that you are the resident monger there in TJ and have, in all likelihood, spent more time on the ground than any of us here in Mexico. However, you cannot discount the fact that within a period of less than 30 days two ISG members were robbed, strong-arm at that. I would venture to say that has never happened since the inception of this blog or particular thread. People can sit in denial all they want. But the bottom line is that Mexico's GDP has cumulatively declined 9 percent(10 percent is universally considered a depression) in Q1 and Q2 of 2009 and U-6 UE is believed to be somewhere around 20 percent(it hit 30 percent in the 1930's US GD). And since Mexico technically does not offer it's citizens UE benefits(some companies give three months of severance), once an individual is terminated there is no government support given as such afforded by the USG to its citizens. Once the money is gone... it is gone. And like many Americans that are entirely clueless about what is currently happening, the vast majority of Mexicans are unprepared for the greatest credit unwinding, and subsequent tightening, in world history.

You guys be careful out there. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.[/QUOTE]
Meh.

Don't get me wrong; only an idiot would disagree with your post. But I'd been a TJ monger since the very early 90's and nothing has really changed as far as crime goes. Tijuana has [i]always[/i] been the type of place where a monger could get jacked [u]easily[/u]. The only thing one can really do is to stay sober and keep his head on a swivel.

Reminds me of something which happened to me down there about 12 years ago: it was late as hell (about 2 or 3 in the morning) and I was walking down Constitucion toward the alley. This was right near Christmas so there were the usual swap meet-type stands lining the streets at that time, but they were closed. The effect was that the sidewalk became this dark-assed tunnel, just [u]perfect[/u] for a monger ambush.

I was walking along and could swear I was hearing footsteps behind me sounding like the clacking of cowboy bootheels striking the concrete. I simply stopped and turned my ear toward the sound; I guess my body language pretty much told the guy, "you're really not that slick - I [b]know[/b] you're behind me, you fucking pendejo."

I could still hear the footsteps but, this time, they were suddenly headed [i]away[/i] from me.

I continued to my destination (Chicago Club, back when it didn't suck) but realized I'd made a couple of potentially grave tactical errors to even get into that situation in the first place: (1) I should have kept my stupid ass on a well-lit path instead of the dark, "rob-my-Gringo-ass-please" corridor through which I was walking; and (2) even though I was sober I still had this "tunnel vision" caused by the need to get laid - [u]now[/u]. If I were smart I would have been scanning the hell out of this area as I was walking through it. It must have been obvious that my head was (at least temporarily) up my ass at that time.

Ever since that night I'm convinced that this second issue is what gets most victims pegged for a robbery. Dropping your guard for even [i]one[/i] second in that area of Zona Norte can spell trouble.

[QUOTE=Smut Villain]Ever since that night I'm convinced that this second issue is what gets most victims pegged for a robbery. Dropping your guard for even [i]one[/i] second in that area of Zona Norte can spell trouble.[/QUOTE]

Your point is well taken. However, this latest spate of muggings, of which I am intimately familiar, is taking place in broad daylight. High f*cking noon, literally. In front of dozens of street girls and others. Not at 3am on a dark street. Huge difference.

TJA has a posting from a Mexican newspaper (El Mexicano?) showing a guy talking to a SG, then, the next second, being choked out by a mugger. It's gonna be a little difficult to negotiate with the girls AND keep watching your back.

[QUOTE=Phordphan]TJA has a posting from a Mexican newspaper (El Mexicano? ) showing a guy talking to a SG, then, the next second, being choked out by a mugger. It's gonna be a little difficult to negotiate with the girls AND keep watching your back.[/QUOTE]Guess we are going to have to start putting our backs to the same wall as the chicas during negotiations and still look around. Once again they look for you to be fixated on something and your head is not on a swivel in order to sneak up behind you. I am sure they can not come through a wall to choke you out.

Still like the spike dog collar idea. LOL.

[QUOTE=Phordphan]Your point is well taken. However, this latest spate of muggings, of which I am intimately familiar, is taking place in broad daylight. High f*cking noon, literally. In front of dozens of street girls and others. Not at 3am on a dark street. Huge difference.

[b]TJA has a posting from a Mexican newspaper (El Mexicano?) showing a guy talking to a SG, then, the next second, being choked out by a mugger.[/b] It's gonna be a little difficult to negotiate with the girls AND keep watching your back.[/QUOTE]
[quote=Sgt Perv]Guess we are going to have to start putting our backs to the same wall as the chicas during negotiations and still look around. [b]Once again they look for you to be fixated on something and your head is not on a swivel in order to sneak up behind you. [/b]I am sure they can not come through a wall to choke you out.

Still like the spike dog collar idea. LOL.[/quote]
[quote=Smut Villain]... even though I was sober[b] I still had this "tunnel vision" caused by the need to get laid - now.[/b] If I were smart I would have been scanning the hell out of this area as I was walking through it. It must have been obvious that my head was (at least temporarily) up my ass at that time.[/quote]

Well, it seems we have identified a common thread here. As Sgt Perv so eloquently put it, it seems these jerks are waiting for the victim to be fixated enough on something (or someone) to keep their heads from turning on that proverbial swivel. Once they see your attention has gone from wideview to narrowly focusing on a SG's ass, that's when they strike.

Apparantly on the other website, three more guys were attacked and another was able to fend off his perpetrator. That's six in under a month. It's pretty much safe to say that you guys are now being profiled. These rateros know that you have money, identification(passport/drivers license) which can be sold and a cellphone which has incriminating phone numbers that can later be used to possibly blackmail you.

There is a high probablility that most of these guys...they and their families are not eating right now.

[QUOTE=Efjayel]Next time I'm going to hide my ID in my shoe. If they where to take my money, that's fine, not too big of a loss but I can't go without my ID. I'm a Permanent Resident, not a Citizen so it would be worse for me trying to cross the line back without ID.

Mike, good to hear you are not discouraged from going back. I'm guessing you will obviously be more alert. I carry a pen or a pencil with me whenever I go to TJ. It's not a weapon so the police can't stop you over it but in a situation like yours, if you react quick enough you could have whipped it out and take out an eye or something. I really doubt these guys where armed to begin with. Could have been possible to turn the tables.

By the way, did you get a look at these guys and would you be able to identify them if you see them again?[/QUOTE]


I would not recommend using a pen to "take out an eye or something." Because if you elect to fight violence with violence, you must be prepared that the ratero has some friend(s) that is ready to throw down on a moment's notice. For pride and honor. And he's not going to come after you with a pen but with a knife. And if you are fortunate to actually survive a knife attack(three entrance wounds to the stomach and you have no hope) you will undoubtedly spend a week(if not longer) in a Mexican hospital and will then be faced with the dubious distinction of having to expain to friends, family and colleagues exactly what the fu_k you were doing in TJ , alone, in the Zona Norte after the American media gets wind of the news. Not to mention six months or more of physical rehab.

Just remember. These guys are young, stupid, desperate, intoxicated, hungry and don't give a sh_t about living.

Do you really want to fu_k with someone like this?

The sad truth is that the bad guys did not get the "hands off" memo concerning mongers. They did not get informed that it was NOT OK to do anything to mongers who are visiting the Zona Norte and to instead focus on other people who would not fall into the monger category.

Go to any part of the world where high risk activities are at play (like prostitution for example) and you'll have an interesting time working out the odds of a safe trip.

Mexico does not have a monopoly on crime or violence. There are countless posts about criminal activity in and around the Zona. There is enough information to provide most anyone up to a 9 fog factor with the information they need to make an informed decision.

Mongers need to review the information available and then govern themselves accordingly, not act surprised or concerned when something happens that they expected to happen anyway.

I spend a LOT of time out and about here in Tijuana. All day and many nights on the streets and highways in Baja. I am not paranoid; I keep the odds in my favor the same as when I lived State-side.

Country John

[QUOTE=Country John]
Mexico does not have a monopoly on crime or violence. There are countless posts about criminal activity in and around the Zona. There is enough information to provide most anyone up to a 9 fog factor with the information they need to make an informed decision.

Mongers need to review the information available and then govern themselves accordingly, not act surprised or concerned when something happens that they expected to happen anyway...
Country John[/QUOTE]
Well, yeah, that was pretty much the point of my initial post. I can name some neighborhoods in San Diego and L.A. where you're actually [i]more[/i] likely to get rolled. As I said earlier, the nature of the criminal activities in TJ haven't changed much in at least a couple of decades.

This shit's been going down exactly like this for ages now but, these days, news just spreads faster and can make things seem a little worse than they might be. A decade or so ago, if a monger got jacked in the alley, a few people would have heard about it but the story would have taken its sweet time spreading to the masses. These days we have shit like the internet and a much more plugged-in populace. Get rolled on Constitucion now and half the U.S. knows about it the next day.

Just as the nature of crime hasn't changed much in years, the way to cope with it has also remained constant: stay sober, don't act like an ass, and keep your head on a swivel. May not be 100% effective 100% of the time, but that advice works often enough that it should be S.O.P. for any monger enjoying himself in the Zona.

Could someone PM me this other site address that talks about the muggings so I can check it out. TJA or what ever it is called. Thanks.

As a guy who got mugged in Tijuana--at knifepoint--I have a few thoughts on what happened and the descussion going on here.

There are the mongers with the school of thought that if I do this, that, and the other thing, nothing bad will happen to me. This basically says that avoiding a mugging is like bringing an umbrella--remember it and you'll stay dry.

However avoiding a mugging isn't like staying dry in the rain. It's more like winning a game of musical chairs. Someone (probably the most careless) IS getting mugged, because the bad guys have to make a living. Your precautions are simply useful for ensuring that you're not them. If the most street-unwise Americans simply aren't coming to Tijuana anymore, then you may be targeted simply for being AN American.

What scares me about my situation is that I was in a cab with the guy who later mugged me. They didn't have to mug me near the border--it was a courtesy of sorts, that they did. It could have easily become a secuestro en paso, and for all I know, the guy who mugged me has now "graduated" to crimes of that level.

Everyone who makes money off of tourists--and this includes the people mugging them--has to now make more money off of fewer tourists.

When will Tijuana be safe? When people are going there to save 50 cents on gasoline again; when the college kids are going there to get drunk again. Until then--when most of the casual tourists are saying it's not worth it--there's not a sufficient number of tourists to keep everyone--including the bad guys and the potential bad guys--busy.

And I guess my post probably didn't help out the economic recovery we're all hoping for.

Howdy. Would anyone know of a place where one could store ones stuff (passport, ID, mobile, extra cash...) while going down to the zone? Something like the lockers that Greyhound has where it is an electronic code or for that matter where one can bring ones own lock & key. The objective here is a safe and trustworthy place located by U.S. entrance where I could leave my identification, mobile, and some extra cash.

[QUOTE=Midwest33]However avoiding a mugging isn't like staying dry in the rain. It's more like winning a game of musical chairs. Someone (probably the most careless) IS getting mugged, because the bad guys have to make a living. Your precautions are simply useful for ensuring that you're not them. If the most street-unwise Americans simply aren't coming to Tijuana anymore, then you may be targeted simply for being AN American.[/QUOTE]I agree with you 100% and that is why I suggest a hidden money stash. All we can do is reduce our chances of being the one they [b] choose[/b] to mug and be prepared for the aftermath if it does happen. This is true in any urban environment.

I remember your story. I never share rides with strangers because of the possibilities that could happen. You, my friend, was truly lucky. Experiences like that stick with you for a long time and not always in a good way.