What are the fake police checkpoints in Mexico looking for?

1/5/2012 10:26:59 PM

The category on Driving in Mexico on Wikitravel has a couple of things to say:

Never drive above the speed limit or run stop signs/red lights as
Mexican police will use any excuse to pull over tourists and give you
a ticket. If pulled over by a police officer soliciting a bribe, do
not pay the amount requested, but pull out USD$50 or 500 pesos, and
explain that it is all you have. This technique has worked in the past
(but it does not work in Mexico City), but it is corruption.
Corruption also is a crime in Mexico, so make a conscious choice. The
fine for speeding could be as much as US$100, depending on the city.

As of April 2011, Police across the country are cracking down on
drunken driving, particularly in Mexico City, the larger cities and
the beach resorts. There are random checkpoints throughout the country
in which every driver has to stop and take an automated inebriation
test. If you fail, you will end up in a Mexican prison. If you
wouldn’t drive drunk back home, don’t do it in Mexico.

So in this case, it would imply they’re looking for three things:

  • drunk drivers
  • speeding drivers
  • drugs
  • the opportunity to elicit a bribe (also can be coupled with the previous three items)

That is for REAL Mexican police stops.

Now as for fake police stops, the US Consulate has this to say, as of 2010:

U.S. officials have clarified an earlier travel advisory that warned
Americans against traveling after dark to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, also
known as Rocky Point.

The U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Mexico, had issued the warning because
travelers have been stopped by phony Mexican police roadblocks.

In an e-mail obtained by the Arizona Daily Star, the consulate stands
behind its advisory, but clarifies that the warning only advises
against traveling on the highway to Puerto Penasco at night and didn’t
apply to other highways in the Mexican state of Sonora or in the city
of Rocky Point itself.

A few other results seem to indicate some prejudice against people from the state of Arizona specifically, as seen on this thread:

…there’s people down in Mexico looking for people from Arizona. Fake
police and fake roadblocks. I doubt anything good will happen to
someone who is found out to be from Arizona.

There was a tourism ad released not too long ago that Sheriff Arpaio
sees as threatening to AZ citizens, and this may be related to that.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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