I was extorted by one of Tijuana's finest last week. Friday night I went to Baja with my friends Brandt and Nick. They needed to prerun for the Baja 1000 and I went to help them out. I will not be racing. (This is one area in which I do not exhibit the Dunning-Kruger Effect.) As we passed through Tijuana where the traffic is always slow, it suddenly got even slower. We saw flashing lights ahead and we assumed it was an accident. As we inched closer, I saw it was a roadblock of some sort. When we arrived, a police officer waved us to the side. I, rather naively, assumed it was to check for drunks. The true purpose was to shake down Americans.
The police officer approached the car and asked for our IDs and checked the drink holders to see that there were no open containers of alcohol in the car. He handed back the passengers' IDs but kept the driver's. He then announced that we had been speeding and that we had been caught. This was a curious claim because the flow of traffic was well under the speed limit. That is not to say speeding was impossible, but it would have required inconveniently ramming of the car in front of us.
When we questioned exactly where this speed camera was, the officer got very defensive. He said that he would have to ticket us and hold the driver's license until the following Wednesday. That was the only option he presented. It would be impossible for my friend Nick to come back for it as he would be in New Hampshire. After a few minutes of haggling we appeared to be at an impasse. The officer then came up with a solution: you can pay the fine right now! What a brilliant idea!
We got the message. We asked how much the "fine" was. He unfolded a piece of paper from his pocket and demonstrated a fine of $150. This was outrageous. I have never heard of a cop getting more than $40 as a "fine" for a similar "violation." He would not not negotiate. We eventually paid the whole $150. We asked for paperwork and he replied: "No, because I say so."
This officer did this right on the side of the road in plain view of all of his colleagues. He had no fear or shame for simply shaking down "rich" Americans. This fits the classic definition of extortion:
1. The offense committed by a public official who illegally obtains property under the color of office; esp., an official's collection of an unlawful fee.
2. The act or practice of obtaining something or compelling some action by illegal means, as by force or coercion. (Black's Law Dictionary)
I never want to go to Tijuana again. Next time, we'll use the Tecate or Mexicali crossing. Yes, we will go many miles out of the way just to avoid that putrid city and its uniformed extortionists. If you go to Mexico, educate yourself here and here.
1 comment:
Do you truly believe that extortion from the police in Mexico is limited to that miserable city? If so you are sorely mistaken. Someone should start a website where you can post pictures of the "police" in, most likely, spanish speaking countries who extort. Kind of like a couple sites that post pictures of Johns who solicite prostitution.
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