I've been living down here in Campeche for a little while now and got pulled over this morning for the first time- My infractions: No front license plate and talking on the phone (which i've been told is only illegal and/or enforced with Gringos) I have a passable profeciency in spanish, but opted to withhold that and just speak english. After the police did some ambiguous mental math for the total of my penalty, they decided on "60 hundred dollars and jail". I pulled out my 550 pesos (about $42 US) and offered that- after a chorus of puta madres they accepted it with a handshake and i went on my way. Spoiler
yeah I was searched in TJ by the cops and the guy kept taking money out and putting it in one hand , then moving it to another hand then making me hold all my contents, and he was acting shady. My friend and I realized they had taken $40 each ! My friend was like 'hey man lets go back and get our money' I was like 'yeah you do that !' in rio I had a run in with the cops and paid them off but the circumstances were a little different. We really were in trouble. csb
I handled the situation as I had been advised to in the past- At the end of the day, they are just going to take everything out of your wallet and let you go for that type of petty ****. So, if you create a language barrier it becomes more trouble than its worth and they just settle for the pesos you have.
Or you can take out your gun and shoot them, claiming you are a higher up in the Mafia. They won't mess with you now!
No need. Before too long, we'll be in the same situation here. The police and the law are already morally bankrupt. It wont be too long before bribes become the norm.
They were trying to accomdate my lack of spanish with their limited knowledge of english- Hence my fine of 60 Hundred dollars
Whole Mexico = hell for Gringos Whole Arizona (and now Alabama) = hell for anyone who looks HISPANIC. BOTH =
Last time I went to nuevo laredo was 5 years ago. We went to "boys town" "la zona" whatever they call it and we were pulled over because we were in a brand new chevy. Well, my buddy that came down with us had a pocket knife and was detained and held in a cell in the area. 400 ****ing dollars!!! True cool story bro
the talking on the phone is not only for gringos, at least here in mexico city, cops stop you, if they see you talking on the phone.
the only police i trust are in the US & certain countries in Western Europe. The funniest for me was once in Ghana. They were looking for a bribe & i was being stubborn...they decided that since i had no receipts for the cds in my vehicle (all well used/worn) i must have stolen them. I still refused to give them money...they let me go after taking my spare tire. BTW, creating a language barrier by pretending to not speak the local lingo has served me well too on occasion.
Same here in Peru. Got pulled over for not wearing a seat belt in the back seat. I waited and waited and waited until the cop finally mentioned money because I sure as hell wasn't gonna say "here's 20 soles, can we just forget about this".