TUba's serious advice for travel to Mexico

TUba's serious advice for travel to Mexico

1) Know when you're in Mexico. Some parts of the border are easy to accidentally cross. If you're near the border - know where you are going.

2) If you look up and don't see any Gringos around - you are basically asking for trouble. Get your arse back to the tourist district. 99% of all of Mexicans are wonderful people and great to be around - the 1% will kidnap you and shake you down for money and might leave you dead. If there are no other tourists around you increase the chances this will happen.

3) If you find yourself in trouble - and are asked to pay a bribe - frickING PAY IT. That is the way of life in Mexico. If you don't have what they are asking - they will likely be willing to negotiate. They aren't really looking for exact dollar amounts - what they really want is the most they can extract from you in the amount of time they are willing to keep you.

4) If you find yourself in trouble - and aren't asked to pay a bribe - you should OFFER one, preferably before getting to the jail. Once you are booked the bribe amount goes up substantially (the italicised part of #3 doesn't apply in jail) You shouldn't be too worried about them saying "bribe? no way! You're going to prison even longer!" - as I said, bribery is the way of life there - but you should try to ask in a round-a-bout way, like "is there anything I can do to help myself?"

5) The distinction between police officers working for the government and Cartel and other organized crime members is largely irrelevant.
we were never able to figure out if the guys who arrested/kidnapped us were cops or criminals - it doesn't really matter, its all basically the same fricking thing in Mexico.

EDIT-
Oh yes, and the most important one:
6) GUNS AND AMMO OF ANY KIND ARE ILLEGAL TO BRING INTO MEXICO. If you own guns - I would seriously recommend scouring your car or truck for that dropped round you might have missed. It might be worth the best years of your life, literally.
edit- of course if you secure the right documents from the Mexican government - you can bring a gun into Mexico, but your U.S. gun registration is worthless.


I say this from experience. I was held in a Ford Bronco for several hours in 2001 by Mexican police in Matamores awaiting a wire transfer for bribe funds. My step-father and mother also live there and I've spent a bit of time in the country.