Scary times in Baja

[ericandholly]

Wurd!!

Excellent advice, and perspective.

Thanks.

Also, this from Bajainsider.com:

<<November 21, 2007
Violence in Baja California (Norte)
BajaInsider

There are well publicized reports of violence against travelers in Baja California (Norte) including robbery, assault and kidnapping. Attacks mostly occurred at night in remote locations, but at least one attack was reported to be brazen. Travelers should take precautions and not camp in isolated areas and not travel at night. Traveling in convoy with others could be helpful. North American travelers are often spoiled by the security of our State and National Parks and Forests, but US parks have security for a reason. Even with this security acts of violence occur in US parks as well.

This is not to diminish the situation. I have traveled worldwide for many years and there are few countries where I would camp in remote rural areas and not expect trouble. At this time the state of Baja California (norte) is no exception. Even experienced Baja travelers should elevate their level of awareness.

This week the Sud Californiano announced that at least one of the described attackers had been apprehended red handed with the weapon he was alleged to have used in previous attacks. There may still be others at large. Reports in North American press allege local authorities did not take this issue on promptly but now appear to be treating the situation with priority.

None of these attacks have occurred in Baja California Sur.

It is important to remember that bringing a firearm to Mexico to protect yourself IS NOT AN OPTION. Should the weapon be discovered in one of many possible military searches you are very likely to spend time in a Mexican prison. Should you be so misfortunate as to have to USE the illegal weapon to defend yourself and someone is injured you will almost certainly be looking at several YEARS in a Mexican prison.

November 8, 2007
Traffic Infractions
BajaInsider

Traffic and Touristica Police in La Paz are enforcing a much broader scope of traffic infractions recently. If you are driving with non-Mexican license plates, you seem to be under greater scrutiny. Once again, the offence of "Driving While Gringo" seems to be on the rise.

The best way to avoid getting dinged is to be squeaky clean. Mind you speed, neither the slowest nor the fastest car be. Your speed is judged by the eye of the beholder, there is no radar to contest. The 'fee' for this seems to be around $1000 pesos while the actual infraction coast is about $250 pesos.

Seatbelts are mandatory in Baja. The legitimate fine for this infraction is $500 pesos
Cell phone use while driving is illegal in Baja. I believe the legitimate fine for this is $300 pesos, It is costing some folks as much as $80USD Gringos must be doing it more as they are certainly getting busted more often for it. (wink)

Drunk driving laws are being enforced. Again this fall we have seen the return of roadblocks for sobriety check points. This is a serious offence here now too. If you are a pale face from north of the border it is gonna cost you serious too. You can expect anything from $1000 pesos to 10,000 pesos of hurt here. (yes, $1000USD) Besides, Baja roads are challenging enough – just don't do it.

The days of expired registrations are over too. Your car must be legally registered to operate on the roadways of the state/country you are plated in. You can be fined here for expired registration and I would almost count on it in the last week of each month in La Paz. (wink)

Also for those of you with 'computer altered tags' beware. An acquaintance told me last week the moto cop near Soriana in La Paz pulled him over at night and flicked his flashlight across the 'cloned' tag, When it didn't reflect, the cop knew it was fake. The car was impounded until he produced valid registration. That took 5 weeks. Good thing it wasn't his smog inspection year or he would have been @#&%.

Driving with an expired license will cost you $500 to 1000 pesos. Don't have a license? You get hauled to jail until somebody produces valid ID for you. Bummer if you are traveling alone.

Driving down an urban street in La Paz slinging mud from the treads of your off road adventure is a $500 pesos fine. This applies to commercial vehicles as well.

Remember, on Hwy 1 local police can write infractions within locales. You will see 'End of Federal Highway" signs near El Rosario, Catavina, Santa Rosalia, Loreto, Constitucion, La Paz, Todos Santos and Cabo. Also a variety of other little pueblos along the way, too numerous to mention.

Driving without Mexican Liability Insurance is just plain silly. My full coverage policy cost me less than $400 per year. Liability only can be even less. If you have an accident you can be detained until the fault of the accident is determined. If you are determined to be at fault, you will be detained until you can provide evidence of (or ability to make) restitution. This can prevent you OR YOUR PASSENGERS from being airlifted to superior medical facilities in the US, Canada or even Guadalajara and the red tape involved even applies to life threatening situations. We would of course encourage you to purchase your insurance from our advertiser, Adventure Mexican Auto Insurance.

Baja's roadways have about 10 times as many accidents per 100 miles as US roads. This is because freeway miles are far safer and Baja doesn't have even a mile of controlled access roadway. Compared to US rural 2 lane roads, Baja Highways are only slightly more dangerous. First time drivers also have a hard time with Baja's 'rolling stops' and other unique driving etiquette. All these challenges can even add up to just a fender bender, as I had, which without insurance would have ruined a vacation. Purchase a policy from Adventure or other reputable agent, it makes sense.

Buen Viaje & Mucho Ojo!>>

[BajaVaya]

Thanx EricandHolly,

I am off to San Quintin and P. San Carlos tomorrow am.

About Mexican cops, I don't take excrement from them. When they ask for mordida (bribe) or else we go to the station, I insist on going to the station. Then their tune changes dramatically because they will earn nothing and, worse, lose their lucrative income from gringos for a half-day.

The most I will settle for is $20. If the cop becomes obnoxious, you can always request his name and badge no. and tell him you will report his asking for a bribe to Fonatur (Mexican Tourist Bureau). That will get him fired almost immediately -- Mexico is anxious to stamp out the corruption but it is too pervasive, all they need is a report. The cop will most likely want to see the last of you as quickly as possible. Act like a frightened gringo and you will be treated as one. Stand your ground, act like you have all the time in the world to argue and be polite -- chances are he will let you go every time.

My wife is an expert at handling the Federales. She will argue and nag until they just want to get rid of her.

Like all things, if you know the system it really isn't that scary.

[isobars]

I know this stuff is rare even in Baja, but, jeez ... in the U.S. I've slept alone in the boondocks, with windows and often doors open -- often in a topless Chevy Blazer -- WAY over a thousand nights in 8-10 states. I've been hassled a total of five times, four by legitimate, well-intentioned policemen and once by a curious deer.

\m/

[jp5]

If the cruise ship stops in San Carlos, then I'll sail there. Otherwise, I'm stickin to Leo. The worse we have to deal with there is Kiters from the South Bay.

[isobars]

Yuck! I'll take banditos any day.

\m/

[pshaw]

It is not only the bigoted gringos who are concerned about a Baja crime wave. The Mexicans recently staged a protest about it:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20071029-9999-1m29march.html

For the record, I've driven down to either La Ventana or Los Barrilles 5 times, Punta San Carlos once, and probably drove over a thousand miles in and around Mexico City (Cuernavaca, Puebla, Delores Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Morelia) without any problems whatsoever. Even my encounters with cops were pleasant and required no bribes - just got two warnings for speeding. More polite than in the U.S. I was never afraid until now. I won't be driving until this mess gets cleaned up and I sure as hell won't be taking my wife along for quite a while. I'm sure the guy who took his girl friend along (she was gang raped) never thought he would have trouble either. He'd been going down for years. Same for the people carjacked (reported in the SD Union Tribune on 11/22/0 on their way home from the SCORE Baja 1000 off-road auto race in Cabo San Lucas. In that case the guy had guns put to the heads of his wife and kids while his truck and trailer were taken.

It is hard to believe this is happening without either the cooperation or willful neglect of the police authorities. Especially given the "police-like" MO of the robbers.

[jp5]

"Yuck! I'll take banditos any day. "

So Isobars, which one of the Village People were you?

"Macho, Macho man...I wanna be a macho man"...

[pshaw]

Followup to my last post. A leader of an anti-crime organization in TJ was attacked by 20 gunmen in his house, which was near a police station, and there was no response from the police during the attack (at least no response to protect him) despite a prolonged battle involving automatic weapons.

See:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20071128-9999-1m28tjshoot.html

[pacspeed]

The consensus from the peanut gallery seems to be it was a staged "attack". The guy is running for some sort of police commission post, and here he is, heroically fighting off 20(!) invaders by himself. Not only did they fail to get into his house in a 20 minute gun battle, the cops didnt respond, and he didnt get a scratch.

Every first hand account of the real carjackings going down say the perps are well drilled, professional, and ruthless. If the narco gangs/crooked cops/Zeta squad wanted this guy dead, he'd already be feeding the lobsters.

This was either a warning to the guy to get out of town, or a stupid plot cooked up for his campaign.

Or some REEEAAAALLLLY inept crooks.

[moni]

Here is what happened to me TJ:
February 19, 2008 2am.

From a tip about the bad signs to the us border I was very careful and drove slowly. I even asked for some directions from the last toll both. They just said it was very easy and did not offer more than that. I caught all signs and made the right turns until I got to the last split in the road before US customs. I could not tell which way to go. I stopped and searched for a clue. Traffic was not bad there. That was my big mistake. I finally spotted a small sign about 3 foot off the ground sitting on the cement barrier. It was about 40% obscured. I crept close and saw that San Diego was to the right. I proceeded to the right , came around a curve and got in the line to enter the US. Two TJ police walked up to my car with flashlights and a military style machine gun. The looked like Soldiers with full military gear except that it was all black. I rolled down the window and they said I stopped in traffic and that was dangerous. They told me to follow them to the police station to pay a fine of 100 (did not say pesos or dollars). I said ok. They opened a gate in the barrier next to their booth and directed me there. It was a tight squeeze but my car got through. I followed them and they led me to a dark area under a freeway overpass where no one else could see us. They told me to get out of the car and the officer with the gun directed me to the back of the car so that the other one could search my car for “beer, or drugs or guns”. They spoke English. They put their hands in my pockets and emptied them. They took my wallet and emptied it on the hood of car and asked for registration which I gave them. At one point I thought they were going to hand cuff me. They kept saying they were going to take me to the police station. I was scared but I remained as cooperative as possible. Maybe that was a mistake too. While one officer kept me at the back of the car trying to distract me by saying I would go to jail for not having Mexican prescriptions for my pills. They were a type of Motrin which I explained can be purchased at any store no prescription needed. He was just trying to distract me from his partner that spend about 20 minutes searching my car until he found one of my stashes of cash. It was in a pill bottle hidden behind a seat. They even searched my toiletry bag. They were persistent. I had money left over from paying the workers for the construction on our properties. He pocketed the $500 US as if I did not see him take it. I don’t know how much more they would have taken if had found more. They told me to take off. I looked for a badge number but could not see it. I saw their white pickup truck had the number 066 on the back. The cop with machine gun was about 5’6”tall a little stocky. The other one was taller, thinner and wore black rim glasses. I walked to the place where he took the money from to let them know that I know they took it. They got angry and yelled and started to come back from their car toward me. I told them I was closing up the car and putting things away so I could drive off safely. They backed off and I left. and made my way back to border.

I think having my red kayak on top was a red flag that attracted too much attention and signaled that I have been in Baja for a while.

I tried to get the complaint form from the sindictatura but that link is no longer valid. I also tried to call without success. They said it was the wrong number.

I heard from two sources that the TJ cops are getting replaced by federales in March 2008 and so they are taking as much as they can as fast as they can right now from the people.

My nephew was robbed twice by the TJ cops on foot. Similar M.O. Dark place, search everything take what they want and tell you to scram. He said he lost $40 and his digital camera. We told him to avoid TJ completely but he could not resist and paid the price.

Next time I'm going through Tecate. I don't know if the federales in TJ will be better or worse. I understand the federales are in charge in Cabo San Lucas.

BTW the rest of my drive from La Ventana was beautiful and uneventful.