General Reports

[QUOTE=FlapJacK;1695893]Tijuana and Mexico is a whole other world with entirely different set of laws.

If your a grown adult you should already be aware of this and if you get caught with this stuff by Tijuana cops your screwed.[/QUOTE]Yes you bring up a great point about how crazy it is to even think of doing anything illegal in another country. But it does seem that us mongers do tend to exhibit addictive personalities. Think about all the people who have told how crazy we are to travel to MX for sex. As grown adults we should know of all the dangers and maybe just stay home. The cops will rob you, the rateros are choking out people left and right and even if you are smart enough to not do drugs in a third world country, that may not even matter because it is not unheard of for the cops to plant drugs on you.

I don't touch the stuff but you guys are making it seem like the guy will get tossed on death row if he gets caught with a joint. Truth is, it's not big deal and nothing a $50 bribe won't get you out of. Just don't carry a lot of cash on you if you have anything illegal cuz then they'll take it all.

[QUOTE=HugoTheMan;1695953]Yes you bring up a great point about how crazy it is to even think of doing anything illegal in another country. But it does seem that us mongers do tend to exhibit addictive personalities. Think about all the people who have told how crazy we are to travel to MX for sex. As grown adults we should know of all the dangers and maybe just stay home. The cops will rob you, the rateros are choking out people left and right and even if you are smart enough to not do drugs in a third world country, that may not even matter because it is not unheard of for the cops to plant drugs on you.[/QUOTE]Well as for dangerous cities there are many in the U.S that are much worse than Tijuana. Heck even parts of SD are worse than Tijuana.

Just because people say does not make so.

The people saying so are people that use the misguided inaccurate agenda driven media as their Intel source.

But back to topic though. Doing something illegal like drugs in a foreign county is a dumb risk to take. Its all cool and fun until you get busted.

[QUOTE=ClamSlammer;1695968]I don't touch the stuff but you guys are making it seem like the guy will get tossed on death row if he gets caught with a joint. Truth is, it's not big deal and nothing a $20 bribe won't get you out of.[/QUOTE]Did not see any comparison to death row but pretty sure it could land you in jail or even prison.

By all means head on down and smoke it up.

[QUOTE=JetPilot777;1695572]I was curious as for the bathroom attendant in HK do they sell "MaryJane" if not is it easy to come by in the alley? Tips please.[/QUOTE]It's easy to come by and all over the place. Frankly, I hope you score, and I hope you get the hospitality treatment from Tijuana's finest that you will so richly deserve, if you are dumb enough to do drugs in a foreign country. I know you'll get no sympathy from anybody here if you do.

If you're bound and determined, hang out at Bar Zacazonapan on Friday or Saturday. The meseros won't have it, but they'll know somebody who does.

[QUOTE=FlapJacK;1695969]Well as for dangerous cities there are many in the U.S that are m

The people saying so are people that use the misguided inaccurate agenda driven media as their Intel source.
[/QUOTE]Being robbed by the police or being choked out by rateros is very REAL. The talk of having your headless body found hanging from a bridge is media generated crap.

As far as being a typical USA tourist looking for sex in the Zona. Thers is an increasing posibility you will be searched by the police looking for a viagra a joint or anything that will get them a bribe. A friend was recently stopped for drinking milk. They said something about druggies have been known to put there drug in milk.

But just remember the main reason for these searches is not to throw you in a Mexican prison. As Clamslammer stated they will just be looking for bribe money. And if you are not carrying anything illegal there is a good chance they will steal from you behind your back.

I've not yet had a problem with the police in Tijuana. Do the police ask for a bribe or is the victim supposed to offer a bribe? If he asks for $100, is it appropriate to counter offer $50?

Please forgive my ignorance, I just want to be ready when it happens to me.

[QUOTE=HorseTrader;1695993]I've not yet had a problem with the police in Tijuana. Do the police ask for a bribe or is the victim supposed to offer a bribe? If he asks for $100, is it appropriate to counter offer $50?

Please forgive my ignorance, I just want to be ready when it happens to me.[/QUOTE]The bribe is more common when driving. They will make up some kind of violation and may kind of let you know what it will take to make the problem go away. You don't want to be the one to offer a brbe because that is a crime.

As far as being stopped and searched. You want to be able to hold your cash in your hand during the search. If you are able to hold your cash in you hand and are not doing anything wrong you should be able to not lose anything. If they make up some shit like you are going to jail for disrespecting a chica or sone made up shit. Then you will have to decide if you want to give them a little money to make the problem go away. Just remember its a matter ofsomeone calling someones bluff. They will size up the fear you show them and act accordingly.

Every situation is different so there is no exact science.

[QUOTE=HugoTheMan;1695984]Being robbed by the police or being choked out by rateros is very REAL. The talk of having your headless body found hanging from a bridge is media generated crap.

As far as being a typical USA tourist looking for sex in the Zona. Thers is an increasing posibility you will be searched by the police looking for a viagra a joint or anything that will get them a bribe. A friend was recently stopped for drinking milk. They said something about druggies have been known to put there drug in milk.

But just remember the main reason for these searches is not to throw you in a Mexican prison. As Clamslammer stated they will just be looking for bribe money. And if you are not carrying anything illegal there is a good chance they will steal from you behind your back.[/QUOTE]I have been searched by the Tijuana police half a dozen times over the past 25 years and they have never tried to take anything from me that was not theirs or try to bribe me.

I am not saying it never happens but the odds seem pretty low.

[QUOTE=FlapJacK;1696047]I have been searched by the Tijuana police half a dozen times over the past 25 years and they have never tried to take anything from me that was not theirs or try to bribe me.
[/QUOTE]Well I've never heard of a case where the policia have ever tried to bribe a monger. Usually it's the other way around. I've been stopped and searched probably 8-10 times the past year and a half or so. Never openly offer a bribe. If they want one they will discretely ask you to pay a fine on the spot. If the cops get a sense that you are not scared and that you know what you're doing they will back down. The last thing they want to do is to take you down to the station and you telling the capitan that you've been solicited for a bribe. And as Hugo said if you have money in your pocket and they search you and get their hands on it, then they will help themselves to a propina while you're not looking, usually around $50.

[QUOTE=FlapJacK;1696047]I have been searched by the Tijuana police half a dozen times over the past 25 years.[/QUOTE]BUT, why were you searched in the first place?

Being search for no apparent reason is bullshit! It's degrading and uncalled for.

There are searching to find anything, such as viagra, so now they have a reason to take your money.

Fuck those monkeys in Tijuana!

[QUOTE=Tomjackin;1696164]BUT, why were you searched in the first place?

Being search for no apparent reason is bullshit! It's degrading and uncalled for.

There are searching to find anything, such as viagra, so now they have a reason to take your money.

Fuck those monkeys in Tijuana![/QUOTE]The cops in Tijuana are a Joke. I told my story and was degraded as a "troublemaker" by some "classy" assholes on another forum, for the way I walk and talk to cops who "detain" you for NO Reason other than (checking for drugs). I don't talk to ANYONE / except the chicas. I stay at Enva at times, and Cascadas most weeks. I know everyone at Enva (all the people who work there) (and chicas) I walk from the border down Primera every week. I do not have any fear walking to / from the border. I walk in all areas of the Zona. I have been frisked several times and "relieved" of money 2 times. It is hard to control my cash when 2 cops frisk you at a time and I try to grab my dollars and pesos. I DO NOT FEAR the cops, but I do try to steer clear of them. But they are EVERYWARE. As I have said before- it has only been in the past 8 months that it seems it has gotten bad. Before they only were after Mexican Nationals, but now no one is immune. I DO NOT offer any mordida / NO NEED-I have NOTHING to hide. Just walking down the street! As for the "cop loving" scumbags who think I was not worthy of agreeing with their thinking- me being a troublemaker in "their" country. True I am in their country, and I am respectful- But I'll be damned if someone is going to take money from me just because they have a badge and (can) do it!

I've been stopped on foot and searched many times without any resulting problems.

When I was a newbie to LZ, I always followed the advice of the seasoned vets and held my cash in my hands as my pockets were searched. This single action in my early years of mongering always prevented me from losing money to the thieving policia.

And while holding your cash in your hands is excellent advice, my mongering style has changed enough over the years so it is impractical now for me to hold my cash when being stopped and frisked by Tijuana's finest these days.

Nowadays I stay a few consecutive nights on most trips and drive into Tijuana in an older car, which I park at Pepe's (or the Leyva or HDS when I am staying at those two hotels). This allows me to hide most of my money in my car, and a small amount in my room. So I carry very little money on my person these days when walking around LZ.

I have a 'system' for holding my modest currency holdings while walking around LZ: Small peso notes in my right front pocket, larger MX money in my right rear pocket. But typically the larger peso notes are always just one or two 200 pesos notes. I know which ATMS to use to prevent my being stuck with 500 pesos notes. Similarly I request no 500 p notes from cambios when I buy pesos in San Ysidro before crossing the border.

On my left side I do the same with US currency, holding singles, two dollar bills & fives in my left front pocket. If I carry any twenties, it's only one or two $20 bills in my left rear pocket of my jeans. I may not always know the exact count of the smaller bills I am carrying, but I always know exactly how many twenties and 200 p notes I'm carrying in my rear at any moment. Since most of my citas these days are with walkers for total fees of 100 or 150 pesos, I only pull money out in front of them from my front right pocket holding small pesos notes. The walkers never see me pulling out 200 p notes or US currency (unless I'm tipping them with a $2 bill).

So when I get stopped these days by policia in LZ, It would be difficult to start reaching into all of my pockets before submitting to a personal search. So I forgo pulling out all my cash from all my pockets and just let the policia pull bills out of each pocket as they search me. I've never lost a peso this way, despite two occasions where the cop attempted to palm some of my bills. I just count the money as it comes out of my pants and handed to me. Since I knew exactly how much money I was was carrying in my back pockets, it was no problem to point out where (and to what extent) I had the larger bills temporarily fly away from me to the cop.

Policia won't try to palm a 50 pesos note, it's not worth it to them. Their MO is to palm one or more large bills.

In the two recent instances where the policia did try to steal from me (twenties in both instances) , I just calmly explained what was missing and from which pocket it was missing from. On both occasions the cop was able to look again in the victimized pocket. And miraculously find the missing bill (s).

I don't carry much cash. Get an ATM card, such as those offered by Schwab, with no fee and third party fee reimbursement. That way you can use any ATM wo fees. You have to open a brokerage account though.

Been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I went back and read a bunch of pages in this (and some of the other threads) and read some of the reports of distinction but if these questions were answered recently and I glossed over them than I apologize in advance.

1: It sounds like you get the most girls working on the weekends but the weekends sound too crowded so I'm thinking of heading down during the week is there likely to be any difference in the quality of girls early in the week vs later in the week or am I over thinking this?

2: All this talk about police and drugs has me kind of nervous. I'm not interested in bringing / buying anything illegal during my trip but I'm planing to spend several days in the Zona and that means I need to bring some prescription medicine with me. I figure I can mostly avoid the cops (or at least avoid seeing them when I have my medicine) by taking a taxi straight to the hotel and putting my medicine in my room, but if I do get stopped by the cops how likely is it that they try to extract a bribe from me for medicine I have a prescription for and more importantly will they let me keep it?

3: While doing some Google searches I read that the water in Tijuana isn't safe to drink and I should buy bottled water and use that for drinking and brushing my teeth and stuff like that, is this true or just some urban legend?

Thanks