This is a follow-up to my guide to coping with arrest while abroad.
Far less disturbing than being arrested while abroad, but statistically more probable, is being detained for a minor or non-existent violation and being intimidated into bribing your way out of the situation. Coping with detainment and bribery can be akin to the patience, bluffing and improvising required of playing Texas Hold ‘Em in a Vegas casino. It’s difficult to give concrete tips or answer questions without repeated use of the phrase “it depends.” The other players at the table may be halfwits with great cards, professionals with crappy cards, drunks with no clue or a multi-layered combination of everything.
I’ve bargained my way out of bogus traffic violations in Chisinau, Moldova for $7. Guidebook writer and sham detainee veteran Robert Reid, after coolly waiting out a 45 minute shakedown on the border between Romania and Bulgaria, finally had his passport returned and was then earnestly beseeched for details about the quality of life in California. On the flip side, travelers are returning from Mexico reporting increasing random pull-overs in heavy tourist zones that allegedly ended in an escort to a nearby ATM to withdrawal several hundred dollars, all to the refrain of “No ticket, no receipt, no problem”.
In these cases, it’s important to stay calm. Unless you were caught red-handed in a carjacking or something similarly incriminating, you can rest assured that you’re innocent and that in all probability nothing dire will happen to you. While your impulse might be to resolve the situation as fast as possible and get away, as demonstrated by Robert Reid above, sometimes the most effective method is to just wait.
Expect your provocateurs to ham it up with grim head shaking, lengthy whispered huddles and maybe even suggestions that you’ll be taken to the station, but if enough time passes and it’s evident that you’re not panicking or making moves to distribute the contents of your wallet to the group, they’ll stop wasting time on you and cut you loose in favor of searching for weaker-willed prey.
On rare occasion, the official detaining you may not be a genuine official at all. In an LA Times article of October of 2007, on the subject of dubious citations and/or the authenticity of the official in question, deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizen Services Michele Bond was quoted as saying, “Try to get the name and badge number and specifics about the officer. The traveler also should ask for a copy of the citation.” If these tactics aren’t fruitful, she added that “You also can offer to accompany the officer to the police station to settle the matter,” an effective deterrent for purveyors of phony citations.
Though seasoned travelers in certain locales swear by the quick-exit method of offering a “donation to the Policemen’s Fund,” it’s important to remember that trying to bribe an officer is a crime. Indeed, it may very well be a much worse crime than whatever minor violation you’re mixed up in. Alternatively, if the offer of a “donation” is presented to you, and you’re in a hurry, it’s a relatively painless way to get on with your life all things considered.
A common course of action in many countries, whether you’re guilty or not, is for the officer to take your driver’s license or passport to the station, where you’ll have to go the following day, stand in line and pay a fine to get it back. In those cases you’re inconvenienced and coughing up money. Faced with that prospect, a “donation” seems comparatively generous on the officer’s part.
You may find yourself in the hilarious position (in retrospect) of bargaining for the bribe amount. Never reveal exactly how much money you have on your person. This allows you to claim, truthfully or not, that you do not have the sum that’s being requested which will frequently bring down the asking price – except, of course, in the event that an ATM is in close proximity.
Also, if you speak the native tongue, conveniently losing your language skills can work wonders. Don’t utter a single word in the local language, not even ‘hello’. I realize that after years of studying and practicing a language that having to play dumb will challenge both your acting abilities and ego, but exasperating communications breakdowns have gotten me off scot-free, because even the suggestion of a bribe was impossible, much less getting bogged down in lengthy bargaining.
Depending on the locale and the disposition of the officials with whom you’ve run afoul, this lesson in life can either be mirthfully painless or downright harrowing. Staying calm and using your best judgment will probably spare you serious trauma, beyond that… it depends.
[PHOTO CREDIT: elephant bribery by Shark Attacks]
After six years of doing guidebook research in Mexico, I wouldn’t characterize the bribe situation there as “increasingly random,” or suggest that that woman’s experience in Cancun was at all typical. I’ve driven a car there on at least ten trips, and have never been asked for a bribe. Recently, I even got in a small accident that was obviously my fault, and the cop didn’t even write me a ticket.
This is not to say that cops don’t ask for bribes there–I recently polled friends on Facebook, as well as my fellow guidebook authors for the Rough Guide to Mexico book. I came up with a stunning three anecdotes in the past ten years. And these anecdotes were all based on the driver actually having done something wrong in the first place!
But the Cancun car rental association does acknowledge it’s an issue, and has started giving drivers vouchers to pay traffic tickets (usually about US$50) on the spot. (Bribe opportunities come in because tickets need to be paid in person at the town hall, and tourists don’t want to give up their precious beach time… Corruption takes two!) Then drivers pay for the tickets at the rental agency when they return the car.
Sorry for the rant, but I feel bad for Mexico always being depicted as a pit of corruption, violence and failed statehood. It ain’t the case.
Hey Zora – I got the “No ticket, no receipt, no problem” quote from my friends who were similarly nailed by Mexican cops last year. The gutsy tactics and eerie similarity of the two events seems to indicate that it’s not all that rare. I haven’t hear of this happening outside of the popular seaside resort destinations though, which is why I was careful include the phrase ‘heavy tourist zones’, rather than just pigeonholing all of Mexico.
Ah…the age-old mordida.
I had not heard that term until I read Tim Cahill’s great travelogue of the ultimate road trip, Road Fever, in which he provides the historical origin of that term.
I have traveled by vehicle many times in Mexico, primarily from Cancun, south towards the border with Belize, and throughout Baja, from Tijuana to Cabo.
We have been stopped in the middle of nowhere by very young men with very big guns with some form of the military, who have done very cursory inspections of our over-stuffed camper shell full of camping gear, and have never been asked for anything other than an answer to the question, “Got any drugs or guns?”
We have been stopped in small towns by people asking for money for some type of Red (white?) Cross, where a few pesos results in a small sticker in the side wing window.
We have been ripped off by Pemex attendants, who continue to “outsmart” me while pumping our petrol.
We have been asked if we want to upgrade our sub-compact rental car in Baja to a full-sized Jeep for $100 cash (which, for almost two weeks, was a huge bargain).
We did get the new “No Bribe” card from a Cancun rental agency, and luckily did not have to use it.
We have had random fruits and vegetables confiscated at roadside checks, which I was convinced matched a grocery shopping list the guy’s wife gave him that morning.
While I admittedly, sometimes travel in trepidation of the small-town police, we have yet to suffer being detained or nagged for the mordida.
As to Zora “feeling bad” for the reputation of Mexico due to violence, while I continue to visit a beautiful country, I don’t see how anyone can dispute the rampant drug violence. I have just missed deadly incidents in Ixtapa and Cancun. Yes, tourists are not the primary target, but I do not wish to become a collateral causality. It is a little early for the “failed state” label, but on any given day, I am not sure who is winning the war.
I agree with you, Leif: it “depends” on how lucky you are and how you “perform” under pressure.
Yeah, how _do_ they do that at the Pemex? I’ve had it happen twice (in six years). Is one guy just pumping my gas into a jug while the other guy chats me up?
But if so, how do they know about how much gas it would take to “fill” my tank? Because the amount on the pump is usually pretty accurate–what I was expecting. But then my tank is mysteriously not full when I drive away.
Mysteries of Mexico…
Anyway, I’m not saying bribe situations don’t happen in Mexico, Leif. I’m just saying I doubt it’s on the rise, and it’s not as “random” as people say–cops for the most part seem to pull over people who’ve actually violated the law.
And if anything, the drug war has probably helped the situation (small comfort!), as there are so many federales and checkpoints all over the place now. It gives the local cops very little opportunity.
Man, I wish I’d read this a couple years ago, when I was detained for over 4 hours by the Venezuelan police. I fumbled my way through the situation, waited till they reduced the fine from $300 to $30 or so, exchanged some good laughs about Bush (who was still in office), and went on about my merry way. Even caught the last bus of the day. Not bad for a novice…
I have been on the road for nearly 2 years, driving around the Americas (12 countries so far) and the only country in which no cop has tried to get a bribe from me has been Colombia.
Just yesterday here in Ecuador I was pulled over for no reason and had to wait out the corrupt cop for one hour before he gave up and let me go.
I have no idea how Zora drove around Colombia for any extended period without at least one attempt by a corrupt cop. We drove around Mexico for 4.5 months and had 3. We actually wound up giving a cop $7 on Christmas eve, because everyone seemed to be paying up…
We have only been pulled over once for an actual infraction.