22km checkpoints

My (Mexican) wife was telling me that the President of Mexico has done away with all the checkpoints south of the border crossings when entering Mexico. She says he cites the amount of corruption that was going on at these ports of entry required them to be done away with. She called a friend of her's in Sabinas (south of Piedras Negras) who frequently travels to Eagle Pass and asked her about the status of the check point outside of Allende. She reports that it is definitely closed. She also says the crossing at the border itself is as lenient as it has ever been.

I am curious if anyone else has noticed this at other crossings recently? Also, if this is true, then does this mean the military check points will be beefed up for inspections?

You still have to get your auto permit and an FMM so what other check points are you talking about. Maybe Aduana

Military can just look for drugs/weapons

I'm Mexican-plated and Residente Permanente.  You're right about them being Aduana checkpoints.  They are referred to as "veintidós" by Mexicans (according to my wife) referring to the 22km location inside the border where Aduana can send you back to the border if your paperwork isn't correct/current for your car or they can inspect your vehicle's contents, charge you duties for goods, etc., etc. I know the one outside of Allende had a red/green light for inspections.  Her friend told her a couple of days ago that it was definitely closed for business.  According to my wife, they have all been eliminated (recently by the government) citing the corruption being created by these stations.

My interest is I'll be smuggling in 11 blueberry bushes by car in April and want to cross at a laid back crossing (like Santa Teresa, Piedras Negras, etc.).  When we have a carload of stuff, we always cross on a Sunday morning at 7:50 (10-minutes before shift change) because the poor dude is usually tired from his 8-hour shift, seems to not like having to work on the weekend and lazily waves us through (at least that's been our experience).  I'd prefer passing through Nogales, but I don't know how strict they are with vehicles there.

try santa teresa just east of el paso.

http://www.sat.gob.mx/sala_prensa/comunicados_nacionales/2014/septiembre/Documents/com2014_122.pdf

Blueberries do not do well at Lakeside. The commercial growers around Jocotopec tried them, and we tried some in our yard in Chapala. No luck, even though we started with small live bushes.

RVGRINGO wrote:Blueberries do not do well at Lakeside.  The commercial growers around Jocotopec tried them, and we tried some in our yard in Chapala. No luck, even though we started with small live bushes.

If the soil is not acidified, blueberries are impossible to grow.  After having soil samples made in Guad for my future blueberry patch, I am preparing a 100 square feet area dedicated just to blueberries.  The lab in Guad suggested the proper amount of sulfur to be added (actually, a total of 10 pounds was required) to reduce the ph from 8.5 to 6.5 and after a month since the treatment, this has been accomplished.  The ph is now between 6.0 and 6.5.  The U.S. growers are saying it should be even lower (4.0 to 5.0), however the engineer I spoke with in Guad told me he works very close the blueberry growers in Mexico and the correct ph is 6.5 for them to thrive. In addition, a commercial agriculture company in Guad has prepared a special fertilizer for me formulated to my soil sample results and have included a 3% sulfur additive so to maintain the acidic levels required for the plants.

Hopefully, the berries will produce.  If not, so be it.

Oh, please keep us posted on your project! If you are successful and share your knowledge, there will be more blueberries in Mexico. That will be a good thing.

Where are the blueberries coming from that are for sale in front of Paz Liquor? They are in good shape and very tasty.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Oh, please keep us posted on your project! If you are successful and share your knowledge, there will be more blueberries in Mexico. That will be a good thing.

My gardener is going to plant two of the plants in big pots.  He's already getting the dirt loaded with sulfur.  If it works, everybody should grow some blueberries next year!  They claim the plants can last 30-40 years if taken care of.

gringal wrote:Where are the blueberries coming from that are for sale in front of Paz Liquor?  They are in good shape and very tasty.

The closest place "locally" for production of any scale, is the corridor/valley from Cotija to Los Reyes and Periban in Michoacán just north of the Tierra Caliente.  Good quality, but limited production for large scale exporting.

A family member just told me that there are some growers just west of them across the line in Jalisco working with the same umbrella corp., so maybe the production is spreading if they can find or create the right kind of soil conditions.

I crossed at Nogales last Sunday. I got my FMM and vehicle permit at 21km and there is no longer an Aduana checkpoint with the red/green light procedure. Was not stopped once from Nogales to Ajijic.

That's good info, thanx. We are headed to and returning from Phoenix in April. We will enter AZ in Nogales, so I'll be keen to check the activity at the 21km as we pass through there. I would definitely prefer returning through Nogales for sure.

Yeah Noagles is far better option. Even my friend who is Mexican and works in office of a Los Angeles DUI lawyer told me that now there aren’t any 21km checkpoints. Though you still need to be careful and can’t take things for granted.