Sosua Reports

This stuff is frightening if the drive for pusssy was not so strong we would stay home.

[QUOTE=SavePros321; 1214945]How many (newbie) mongers can truly say they know someone in the DR to call in case you get stuck in a pinch? You have to seriously consider how lucky this guy was to have the phone number of someone (Dominican Billy) who had the number of someone (Alberto) who just happened to be able to lend 5500 to someone (Dw1987) he's never met before. Most of the folks on this board have no idea who Dominican Billy is, let alone every heard of Field of Dreams, LOL.

Most of us (including myself) would have been shit out of luck and stuck at this point:[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=SavePros321;1214945]How many (newbie) mongers can truly say they know someone in the DR to call in case you get stuck in a pinch? You have to seriously consider how lucky this guy was to have the phone number of someone (Dominican Billy) who had the number of someone (Alberto) who just happened to be able to lend 5500 to someone (Dw1987) he's never met before. Most of the folks on this board have no idea who Dominican Billy is, let alone every heard of Field of Dreams, LOL. Most of us (including myself) would have been shit out of luck and stuck at this point:[/QUOTE]Just because you aren't renting a car and have an accident, involved in drugs, or the latest scam of claiming domestic violence, doesn't mean that these charges can't be brought. The gringo has considerably more money and PAYS WELL to get out of jail and they KNOW IT. This ENTIRE SCENARIO does not change whatever the "charges" might be. Same jail, same process. ALL FEAR AND THREATS OF LONG JAIL TIME. The THREATS ARE REAL and there are many in that predicament RIGHT NOW. The game is getting bolder and more frequent because it is working. Just about EVERY GRINGO I know can come up with $5, 000US to get his ass out of jail, especially once they are in one like Puerto Plata.

Hear me when I say this: TO BE A TARGET YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE GUILTY TO BE ARRESTED OR CHARGED, JUST PERCEIVED CAPABLE OF BUYING YOUR WAY OUT OF JAIL.

HEED THIS WARNING. The D. R. Is rapidly becoming a DANGEROUS PLAYGROUND.

[QUOTE=Bobsthrobbinknob; 1215125]Just because you aren't renting a car and have an accident, involved in drugs, or the latest scam of claiming domestic violence, doesn't mean that these charges can't be brought. The gringo has considerably more money and PAYS WELL to get out of jail and they KNOW IT. This ENTIRE SCENARIO does not change whatever the "charges" might be. Same jail, same process. ALL FEAR AND THREATS OF LONG JAIL TIME. The THREATS ARE REAL and there are many in that predicament RIGHT NOW. The game is getting bolder and more frequent because it is working. Just about EVERY GRINGO I know can come up with $5, 000US to get his ass out of jail, especially once they are in one like Puerto Plata.

Hear me when I say this: TO BE A TARGET YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE GUILTY TO BE ARRESTED OR CHARGED, JUST PERCEIVED CAPABLE OF BUYING YOUR WAY OUT OF JAIL.

HEED THIS WARNING. The D. R. Is rapidly becoming a DANGEROUS PLAYGROUND.[/QUOTE]Your post may be on point but you devalue the message by writing so much in all caps. Whenever I see all caps I assume the writer is a crackpot.

[QUOTE=Charles Pooter;1215147]Your post may be on point but you devalue the message by writing so much in all caps. Whenever I see all caps I assume the writer is a crackpot.[/QUOTE]Did Tropical run out of your favourite brand of prune juice Sir Charles?

because this sort of thing seems so unfair by first world standards i think theres a temptation to think it's the same thing as a criminal scam, and that tourists might be randomly thrown in jail and extorted. it's not. it's the ordinary operation of the law. if you are not driving a car you will not find yourself in jail for being in an accident. this is not some bizarre local anomaly, the legal system in the dr works like this. dominican drivers tend to just hit and run drive away from the scene of an accident because they know how the law works. there is even a commonly appeciated morally understandable reason for it. medical care is expensive and most people don't have insurance. hospitals will not just take anybody and worry about payment later. somebody injured in a car accident often desperately needs a guarantee that somebody will pay for care and since just driving a car implies you have money the system leans on the driver whether they are at fault or not. the alternative may be for some poor girl to die or be permanently crippled because nobody would pay for medical care. and it wasn't her fault either she was just a passenger.

because the system works like this individuals will try to game the system, like deliberately getting into accidents to set up drivers, but that is not likely what happened here and is not as common as the fact that accidents just happen.

people are set up for buying drugs and having sex with ****d chicas too. generally in those cases as well if you aren't willing to buy drugs and you are careful about i'd and not messing with **** chicas. you will not be drawn into it. these things almost always require that the target actually participate and be effectively guilty, whether entrapped or not. they count on the ordinary operation of the legal system as the background for what amounts to extortion and that ordinarily means participation. unlike drugs or ****d chicas, merely renting a car and driving set you up for this if you have an accident and somebody is hurt or killed. in effect the sytem treats you as a criminal if that happens so the act of driving is putting yourself at risk in a significant way. people (even posters on this forum) admit to buying marijuana in the dr. they can do that without any consequences too. but it also makes them vulnerable to getting sucked into the legal system extortion if they aren't lucky.

the point is not to tell people not to rent cars and drive but to make them aware that they aren't in kansas anymore and there are risks they should be aware of.

I agree with the fact that the DR (especially Sosua / Puerto Plata) is getting more dangerous than in previous years. I have been coming to the DR for 12 years now and have been living here since retiring 3 years ago. I have always been a person very aware of my surroundings and what is going on. I have always felt relatively safe here in the DR. I am not a paranoid kind of person, but in the last year I have observed more and more corrupt police actions. I am currently making plans to permanently leave the Dominican Republic and live in another part of the world. I used to love the DR and still do in some ways but the level of in-your-face corruption has reached a degree that for me is no longer tolerable. I have actually started to feel unsafe here after all these years. Additionally, the cost of living in the DR (rent, food, transportation, cable, internet, massage, etc, etc.) are so much higher than other wonderful parts of the planet that it no longer makes sense for me to stay here. I realize that coming to the DR for a vacation is convenient and fairly easy for many guys, hence its popularity. I still have a lot of fun here, but I have more fun in a much more relaxed atmosphere other places on the planet. I have been traveling the planet for 45 years now and am no novice when it comes to knowledge of the world. More specifically, it is just my personal opinion that Puerto Plata and Sosua are dying communities in terms of tourism anyway. There are many fewer people coming to these towns than in the past which is definitily affecting the economy of the area. Many Dominicans that had jobs previously are now jobless. There is more desperation for many Dominicans now than in past times. The unwarranted and random arrest and jailing of many girls in Sosua by the Politur (Tourist Police. An oxymoron) has resulted in many girls that would normally come here to entertain us guys are now staying away out of fear of the Politur and jail. This has resulted in a noticeable decline in the overall numbers and quality of girls available in Sosua. Yes, there is for sure still fun to be had and there are still girls in Sosua, but it is NOT what it used to be. There are numerous behind-the-scenes reasons for this which I won't go into here. Suffice it to say. The DR is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet, more dangerous than in times past, rampant inflation, and for me much less desireable than it used to be. It's still a beautiful country with a lot to offer, but presently there are better places. Things are constantly changing everywhere and perhaps one day the DR will once again be more desireable than it is now.

Just to add a bit about the Dominican legal system. It's based on the Napoleonic code and defacto presumes guilt of defendants. There are no jury trials. The judge works directly with prosecutors in collecting evidence.

In the case of an accident with injury the driver is effectively presumed guilty, pending an investigation and trial.

The casa de conductor insurance mentioned is designed for people who work as drivers. If the are in an accident they would have to go to jail like anybody else but they can pay insurance that will allow them to stay instead in a special more hotel like facility awaiting the legal process.

If you are just renting a car and get in an accident completely unaware of this it seems like a Kafkaesque nighmare, being thrown in jail for just being a driver in an accident but its just normal legal process. The jail cell packed with naked hoodlums is just normal too.

[quote=marc anthony; 1215194]because this sort of thing seems so unfair by first world standards i think theres a temptation to think it's the same thing as a criminal scam, and that tourists might be randomly thrown in jail and extorted. it's not. it's the ordinary operation of the law. if you are not driving a car you will not find yourself in jail for being in an accident. this is not some bizarre local anomaly, the legal system in the dr works like this. dominican drivers tend to just hit and run drive away from the scene of an accident because they know how the law works. there is even a commonly appeciated morally understandable reason for it. medical care is expensive and most people don't have insurance. hospitals will not just take anybody and worry about payment later. somebody injured in a car accident often desperately needs a guarantee that somebody will pay for care and since just driving a car implies you have money the system leans on the driver whether they are at fault or not. the alternative may be for some poor girl to die or be permanently crippled because nobody would pay for medical care. and it wasn't her fault either she was just a passenger.

because the system works like this individuals will try to game the system, like deliberately getting into accidents to set up drivers, but that is not likely what happened here and is not as common as the fact that accidents just happen.

people are set up for buying drugs and having sex with ****d chicas too. generally in those cases as well if you aren't willing to buy drugs and you are careful about i'd and not messing with **** chicas. you will not be drawn into it. these things almost always require that the target actually participate and be effectively guilty, whether entrapped or not. they count on the ordinary operation of the legal system as the background for what amounts to extortion and that ordinarily means participation. unlike drugs or ****d chicas, merely renting a car and driving set you up for this if you have an accident and somebody is hurt or killed. in effect the sytem treats you as a criminal if that happens so the act of driving is putting yourself at risk in a significant way. people (even posters on this forum) admit to buying marijuana in the dr. they can do that without any consequences too. but it also makes them vulnerable to getting sucked into the legal system extortion if they aren't lucky.

the point is not to tell people not to rent cars and drive but to make them aware that they aren't in kansas anymore and there are risks they should be aware of.[/quote]very informative post marc, thanks.

[QUOTE=Manizales911;1215221]Very informative post Marc, thanks.[/QUOTE]I agree it was balanced and well-informed like most of Marc Anthony posts. Not sure it was so good it was worth posting three times, though.

[QUOTE=Charles Pooter;1215241]I agree it was balanced and well-informed like most of Marc Anthony posts. Not sure it was so good it was worth posting three times, though.[/QUOTE]I don't know how I did that. I filed reports to delete the duplicates.

Dear Pooter,

I gave some sound advice to an evolving scam being perpetuated through the very system that Marc Anthony describes for the benefit of this online community. It is up to you to decide whether to listen or not, or believe or not. I know it's true, I saw it first hand so whether you believe I'm a crackpot by the way I wrote it is not really important to me. I posted this to make more men aware that this "disneyland" and "playground" that they all enjoy can flip over on you quick. Register with the Embassy there on the North Coast, keep numbers handy. It might be 1 in a 1000 that get stuck on this scam, but 6 got hit with it in September. If one is one of those 6, this would have been important to know.

Again, I emphasize without caps: This scam involving domestic violence does not require anything but a plausible charge to be brought forth and a gringo will find himself in Puerto Plata prison until he is able to buy his way out, pay his attorney fees, and / or prove his innocence.

Maybe the contribution the gringo has in this scam is involving himself with a "working girl", however, isn't that what this forum focuses on?

[QUOTE=Bobsthrobbinknob; 1215125]Just because you aren't renting a car and have an accident, involved in drugs, or the latest scam of claiming domestic violence, doesn't mean that these charges can't be brought. The gringo has considerably more money and PAYS WELL to get out of jail and they KNOW IT. This ENTIRE SCENARIO does not change whatever the "charges" might be. Same jail, same process. ALL FEAR AND THREATS OF LONG JAIL TIME. The THREATS ARE REAL and there are many in that predicament RIGHT NOW. The game is getting bolder and more frequent because it is working. Just about EVERY GRINGO I know can come up with $5, 000US to get his ass out of jail, especially once they are in one like Puerto Plata.

Hear me when I say this: TO BE A TARGET YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE GUILTY TO BE ARRESTED OR CHARGED, JUST PERCEIVED CAPABLE OF BUYING YOUR WAY OUT OF JAIL.

HEED THIS WARNING. The D. R. Is rapidly becoming a DANGEROUS PLAYGROUND.[/QUOTE]I agree and thank you for that useful warning, I don't disagree that these 6 guys may have been extorted, still the main point is and will always be the same 'fly low'. Some peoples cannot resist the urge to flash and brag, which make them perfect targets. I don't need to repeat the basics of security in third world country, they have been repeated over and over on this board. So chances are high that those guy's became target by their own actions. Maybe they could had taken the time to read many months back on this board, they would had learned enough to avoid those pitfall.

Or three times in Marc Anthony's case! LOL Just giving you a hard time dude, I couldn't resist.

As usual, I appreciate the advice / information. Upon further deliberation, I've decided against renting a car. I deal with risk everyday and the most basic rule is to analyze the risk / reward BEFOREHAND!

NO piece of ass is worth 10k USD. Also, costs aside, who wants their vacation interrupted and filled with so much anxiety?

I just wanted to hit the open road and be free to discover things spontaneously and leave Sosua for some night time activity. It's not like I've been punked out of renting a car. The stories helped me better understand what I am dealing with. I'll probably just hire a taxi for a day here and there. If anybody has some good contacts, please pass them along.

I already know about the tire and windshield scams, but that other shit is next level. I'm sure I would have gotten myself into deep trouble or killed if I was in that story because there would have been a few instances where I lost my temper!

[QUOTE=AlwaysHorny 2;1215308]I just wanted to hit the open road and be free to discover things spontaneously and leave Sosua for some night time activity.[/QUOTE]Don't forget you can see a lot of the country very safely, comfortably and extremely cheaply using the Caribe Tours and Metro bus networks, supplemented by local buses to reach the smaller towns (a bit less comfortably, but you see the real DR that way). Not the same as your own car, but very cheap and less stressful.

And this time you made your point beautifully. I apologize for being a bit hard on you previously. As a former proof-reader things like excessive use of caps probably irk me more than most here. Thanks for the warning which is worth bearing in mind.