What's up with the Transitos?

[Alma Libre]

I have lived in Puerto Morelos for 5 years and have never had any contact with the Transitos of Cancun, but for some reason the last two times I have been in CUN, I have been waved over in roadside checks.

The last time they checked my truck's import papers (which of course are out of date as my FM3 is in for renewal) today they walked up to the truck after waving me over and said they stopped me by mistake...drive on.

Are they cracking down on something these days or was I just lucky for 5 years?

Note, both these stops were during daylight hours and not in areas frequented by tourists (both stops were near Costco)

[Life_N_Cancun]

There was a bit in the paper a month back about them checking foreign vehicles....but I'm not sure for what as Q. Roo is a "border state" and vehicles can be here without import stickers anyway. My only thought is they want to try and catch a Mexican driving without the owner in the vehicle so they can confiscate the vehicle as per the law. I have a friend who gets pulled over every third day it seems like in his Wisconsin tagged truck. (you probably know him as he has a house just down the road from your store) So I cant help but have a suspicion that a lot of it is just cops looking to extort the Gringos...

[Steve]

We've lived pretty close to Costco for the last 2 and a half years. I've never been stopped either locally or anywhere else. Then again my car has Mexican plates and quite a heavy tint on the windows.

I can only presume it's the US plates that attract the attention.

[RiverGirl]

I'm with Steve, local plates and dark windows is the trick here. Foreign plates make you a mark.

People here often discuss the benefits of bringing a car from the States, but personally I never buy the arguments. It seems to me the only reason to do it is a) if you really, really love the car or b) you plan to drive in an out of the country regularly. All the other arguments for having a foreign car here fall flat imho when you weigh the fact that those foreign plates make you a cop magnet.

[cunspin]

I have had a car from the states for about 15 out of the 20 years I have lived here, 3 different ones and NEVER had problems with Transito. They have no jurisdiction over the car the only people that do are Hacienda.
The reason they are pulling over cars is because of all of the Drug problems they are stopping people at checkpoints and searching cars for any kind of contraband.

[mixz1]

I'd have to agree with Cunspin. I've had my New York plates on the car since we arrived here. I was stopped once; a justified speeding stop that I could not complain about. I paid the next morning, got a fifty percent discount for prompt payment and retrieved my drivers license, all done in a courteous and professional manner.

OTOH, when I potholed a wheel and wrecked a tire a couple of weeks ago on the road to the airport, a couple of Transitos and a bus driver pulled over to offer an assist. The Transitos even gave me a blue and red strobe show to warn off traffic while I removed the wreckage and put on the spare, which was located under a boot full of luggage, all while the clock ticking down towards my guest's departure time. They helped me reload the luggage and, amazingly, refused my offer of a propina. By then the bus driver had gone, but not before offering to get my passenger to the airport. He wasn't looking for a tip either.

How can you not love this place even if replacing that wheel turned into a impuestos nightmare? I had 3 perfect strangers offer to get dirty and help me out of a jam with no outstretched hands. Two were dreaded Transitos, the ton-tons of Cancun. Amazing.

[Life_N_Cancun]

Originally Posted by mixz1

Two were dreaded Transitos, the ton-tons of Cancun. Amazing.

You're sure they were not Federales?

Don't get me wrong, I know that there are lots of dedicated police in Cancun who only want to serve the public.... but they aren't usually the ones harassing you, therefor you don't interact with them. Of the handful of times I have dealt with the police here I cant think of any time when I didn't get the feeling (or be outright told) they just wanted to take my money.

There is a reason that the police cruisers don't have cameras in them...and it ISN'T a lack of money.

[Alma Libre]

Foreign plates can't be too much of a target because I have had no contact with the Transitos in Cancun for the past 5 years up until now.

We do drive back and forth to Calgary every year and have only been stopped twice by Transitos in all those drives all over Mexico. (9 trips now...#10 coming up) Once was in Tampico and once in Playa del Carmen. We do generally drive the speed limit.

Seems to me that they are cracking down on something in CUN.

[mixz1]

Originally Posted by Life_N_Cancun

You're sure they were not Federales?

It's not hard to tell the difference, including arms patches and vehicle decals. Also, in general there are specific vehicle types, except for the pickup trucks, where even there the color scheme holds true:

Gold Ford mini SUV, tan uniforms, no guns = Transitos
Black Ford or Chevy sedan, black/grey uniforms, guns = Federales

In truth, the Federales trouble me more with their ever-present weapons and flack jackets. Fortunately, most of the time if you look closely you'll see that the weapon isn't loaded.

[Life_N_Cancun]

Of' course, I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence, I just find myself in disbelief that none of them would even accept a tip.

BTW Cancun is making a push to arm all of its officers after the cops that have been killed in drug related murders. Most of the transito cops not on intersection duty are now armed...and I presume loaded.

[mixz1]

Originally Posted by Life_N_Cancun

Of' course, I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence, I just find myself in disbelief that none of them would even accept a tip.

No offense taken. When I got the speeding ticket for doing 90 KPH in a 70 KPH zone on Kulkulcan, I attempted a polite offer of an "expediency payment" to make the whole thing go away, but the very polite young Transito wouldn't bite, declining the offer by saying to me "it would not be proper" to take the money. I stopped myself from laughing out loud and took my medicine.

He did offer the advice that they generally won't bother you for 10 KPH above the limit. I would have been ignored at 80 but not above. I've taken his advice ever since and have remained ticket-free.

When we drove down here from New York we were stopped by a Federale outside of Veracruz. I won't confess how fast I was going but I will admit I was deep in felony territory. He wasn't interested in writing any tickets. He just wanted to scope out the car. After a brief discussion of German cars, a topic he was surprisingly familiar with, he wished us a good day and then paced us back up to the triple digit speed we had been driving, giving us a light show for a goodbye when he took the next exit.

That was the only stop in 5200 miles of fairly steady driving and was the result of good planning, a good radar detector and dumb luck. Fortunately the Federales had not learned how to use the instant on feature of their radar guns and just broadcast continuosly. You could here them for miles.

[Drewbert]

>They have no jurisdiction over the car the only people that do are Hacienda.

Incorrect. The ONLY person that can seize a foreign car is someone from ADUANA.

And anyone else has to try to keep you held at the side of the road until the Aduana gets there.

That's why most cars are seized at the exit of the airport by the federales because the Aduana dood is a couple of minutes away.

[Drewbert]

Just to ad - if you go to the airport in a foreign plated car, make sure you have your FM3 with you, or a photocopy of it, showing the page in the FM3 that has the stamp for your car import permit.

[RiverGirl]

I don't know what the law says about cops taking bribes, but I know that Immigration agents can and do lose their jobs and can face prosecution for taking any kind of bribe. Of course many Immigration agents work there precisely because they want the bribes. But they do get in huge trouble when a case of bribery is properly documented.

[T.J.]

Hey Rob - Nice to meet you on Saturday.

[Alma Libre]

Originally Posted by T.J.

Hey Rob - Nice to meet you on Saturday.

Likewise T.J., I hope you had a fun night in Puerto Morelos...