Hiway robbery in Tonala?

CheenaGringo wrote:Heightened awareness is what it will be for us when we travel that route on our next trip!

CheenaGringo wrote:Only a fool would get carried away and state that they would do this or that while sitting behind a keyboard. You have already seen one "macho" response and maybe that is the preferred recourse?

As for us, we would definitely avoid this stretch of highway in the early morning or late afternoon/evening hours. It might be prudent to look for a group of vehicles that one could join in with. And I think we might be inclined to continue driving until the next public place to pull over, like a Pemex station or such.

CheenaGringo wrote:Merry:

Not to worry, I operate under the same theory NOB! I must be doing something right since in 14 years of driving in Mexico and many thousands of miles, I haven't had so much as a scrape and I intend to maintain that record. Every day of driving is Mexico is a new challenge and quite a bit of fun when one takes the experience in the right vein.

I will say that no other country has provided me with the laughable experiences that Mexico has!

Hi, the number on their car was TN362. This occurred on Saturday about 11:00am. There were 3 officers in the car. All 3 got out, approached our car. The driver rolled down the window and addressed them in Spanish. One of them asked where we were going, where we lived then asked the driver to get out of the car. The officer driected him to go to the back of the car. At this point I couldn't follow what happened. He got back in, went thru his money and told us that 200 pesos were missing out of 1000 he started with, all in $200 bills. Then another officer approached the opposite side of the car where I was sitting in back. He motioned for me to get out of the car. He took me to the back of the car also, asked if I spoke Spanish. I said I did not. Another officer moved to my left and started putting his hand in my left pocket. At the same time, the first officer put his hand in my right pocket, took out my money. The officer on my left began really rufflng through my left pocket, making a lot of noise. I turned to him and what he was doing thinking how strange it was that he kept ruffling in this same pocket for so long. The officer on my right then gave me back my money. I didn't look at it, just put it back in my pocket. Then the officer on my right pulled out my wallet from my back pocket and began going thru it in front of me making sure I saw what he was doing. He then gave that back to me. During this search, one officer asked me in English if I did drugs and if i had any guns. I replied in the negative to both questions. I was directed to get back in the car. Then an officer directed the third and final male of our group to get out of the car. He is a native Spanish speaker and was not searched.
All back in the car, we drove off. Later on back home, I discovered I was missing 500 pesos.

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This one was much more threatening IMO



This is a brief version. Happened around 8:30 am about a mile from the turn off. Very early April, Maybe March 31st, not sure of the date.



We got home on Tuesday night. The trip was uneventful except for the new GDL bypass. Local police stopped us and made us get out of the car. We had to put our hands on the car and spread eagle. They patted us down and asked if we had any guns. They searched our car, stole our Toll money and stole our computers. We were nervous wrecks after that. They tried to get us to drive off the highway and down to a dirt road but I didn't. They had the whole thing very orchestrated. We didn't know what they had done until they were gone. Thank God we hid some extra money in our luggage or we would not have had enough money for the trip out of Mexico (gas and tolls).

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Date and time of day? Tuesday, December 13, 2011, approx. 11:30am – Driving back to Ajijic from Tonala.



Approximate location: The highway just past the GDL airport and about 10 minutes from making the connection with the Chapala Highway. We were in the center lane; not exceeding the speed limit. We had purchased tiles in Tonala for a remodel job at our house.



MO of the cops. We drove past these 4 cops. They had a Mexican truck pulled over under the overpass. When we drove by they all turned from talking with the Mexican driver and looked at us. I told my husband “Oh, oh, here they come.” He said why would they as we had done nothing to justify being stopped. They”dogged” us for about 2 miles (intimidation) before their lights and siren when on. They were in a blue truck marked “MUNICIPALES”. 4 men in blue uniforms with arms.



Did they give you that BS about looking for guns and dope? They said nothing about guns or dope. They did accuse my husband of being “drunk”. They told my husband to get out of the car, they planted him with his arms up, legs spread eagle against the car and “frisked” him. They made him take items out of his pockets, including his wallet. My husband would not let them handle his wallet. They made him open the back of the SUV and did a search although there was nothing back there. They told my husband to put his wallet on the bumper; he refused and put it back in his pocket. Since we had just made a purchase there was not much money in his wallet (or in mine either.) Meanwhile a cop was in the driver seat next to me. He said my husband was drunk. I said we both were sipping on Cokes and had nothing alcoholic to drink (especially at 11:30 am). He sniffed the Coke cans. He made me open the glove compartment, and the console. When cop#1 was having no success with me cop#2 told cop#1 to get out and cop#2 got in beside me. He took my purse, opened all the zipper compartments and took out items and threw them at me. He asked where we had been and where we were going. He made me show the receipt for the tile purchase. I showed him both my USA drivers license and my MX license. I was worried sick for my husband as I could not see him as they had him on the drivers side toward the rear of the SUV in the “blind spot”. The second cop continued to bully me and I kept asking him what we had done to merit this treatment. He continued to yell “ID, ID” and distract me while he finished going through my purse. After what seemed like forever (perhaps 15 minutes) he rudely pushed my purse back to me and my husband was allowed to get back in the car and they told us to leave. My husband commented that we were lucky that they did not demand “mordida”. It was then that I looked in the side zipper compartment of my purse where I had “stashed” 3 x 500 peso bills (TOTAL 1500 pesos) and, of course, the money was gone. So they did get their mordida and we got a very bad taste for the police in Mexico! We don’t recall nametags, just rifles, flak vests and the blue uniforms.

My husband is 65 years with grey hair; I am 68. We were a “target of opportunity. There was no “valid” reason for them to stop us.

jackak10 wrote:If these are real federal police, then any thoughts you might have of a safe life here should be gone.

jackak10 wrote:If these are real federal police, then any thoughts you might have of a safe life here should be gone.

CanuckBob wrote:

jackak10 wrote:If these are real federal police, then any thoughts you might have of a safe life here should be gone.

Federal police have authority in Manzanillo too. What a stupid comment that was. You initially started with some good stuff but are scrapping the bottom of the barrel with some of your comments lately.

CanuckBob wrote:I called your comment stupid not you. Most Mexicans I know don't seem to trust the police at any level. Talk with your Mexican neighbors. This is nothing new and certainly not restricted to this part of Mexico.

CheenaGringo wrote:MC:

I think most of us realize that this has become your "mission" but if you are going to do a complete job, how about determining the percentage or likelihood of one being affected. By the way, I asked the question if this stretch of highway was even within the Tonala City limits since allegations are that these actions are being undertaken by Tonala Police and yourself and others have chosen to ignore the question.