was relatively quiet, and my truck only had 4 squirrels that reached a top speed of maybe 70mph going downhill! I even had the same cop pull me over twice in the span of 2 days in Ajo. He was a peach. Dude, you just saw me yesterday!! Same thing has happened to me in Mexico. That stop sign north of Sonoyta where DIF or Cruz Roja collects money…I rolled it one day and a cop pulled me over and I was having none of it. After I calmed down, he simply told me that it was a legit stop sign, and I needed to stop and then sent me on my way. This was during the time when the Sonoyta cops were nailing everyone for nonsense or speeding when their radar detectors didn’t even work. I can cite numerous other examples, on both sides of the border, but there are some things I just don’t want in print. In Mexico we deal with other factors as well. I don’t want to pretend that corruption doesn’t exist – it absolutely does – and that is a convo for another time. Remember, if you’ve done nothing wrong, don’t be afraid, be nice, be firm, be prepared to pay a fine at the police station and I guarantee you that 98.00% of the time there won’t be one. Being afraid to stick up for yourself is a huge problem.
Tons of complaints about alcohol (you are allowed 3 liters per person or 8 bottles of wine). You don’t want to bring more because the duty is stupid high. They don’t care if you only like seltzers or a particular spirit you can’t get here – you can still bring it – just keep it under your limit or invite more people to ride with you. I bring wine down all the time, but at my limit. I even keep the actual law (in Spanish with the link) on my phone that states you are allowed 8 bottles of vino because many times I’ve had to argue my way through them telling me only 6 bottles were allowed. If you drink a lot of what isn’t sold here, then I suggest you learn to like something else or make frequent runs to UETA duty free at the border. Though I despise the Rocky Point chat trolls, I do commend them on their comments on this subject when people break the law. Hey, I wish I could bring in 4 cases of wine at a time, but I can’t – their country, their rules!
My dog weighs 200 lbs., he obviously eats a lot, and his food only comes in 30 lb. bags – do I ever bring in 2? No. Why? Because I am only allowed 50 lbs. and if I get that crapshoot officer, I don’t want the hassle of arguing about 10 lbs. of dog food. Silly says I, but themz the rulze.
Food, well there is an entire list of items that we are not allowed to bring, and I realized while writing this that we don’t have the link on our Travel Information Pages, which will be rectified next month – lots of changes will be made to the Travel Info. Pages to reflect what is happening now. The link is on our website. Again, same advice – you’re allowed what you’re allowed. If you bring prohibited items, then be prepared to have it confiscated. You can find just about everything down here these days. If something is not your brand, and you’re down here for a while, adapt your taste buds, do without or make frequent trips north or to another city like Mexicali.
A side note to the food…inconsistency is a problem at the border, get used to it. It hasn’t changed in the 30 years I’ve lived here. We had lots of complaints over turkeys this year and we did call ahead of time and were told they were still going to allow 1 turkey per vehicle. We blasted the verification, started getting complaints about turkeys being confiscated, called again and the answer was then a NO. Ugh. A lot of people did make it across with their Thanksgiving dinner, some didn’t.
I can’t even get into the importation complaints now except to say that foreigners who use their passports are allowed $300 USD per person duty free. Foreigners who use their Residency Card are allowed $150 USD per person. Our Travel Info. Pages have more details. You can ask to speak to a supervisor if you think you are being wronged. It may work, it may not. Pull over to the left into the Voluntary Declaration Area and DECLARE! Do not try to go across and then declare. Crapshoot. FAFO – take your pick. We’ve heard lots of chatter about the import amount being lowered recently and have not been able to verify any such info. I think some are confused about the difference between using their Passport and their Residency Card to import, but we will continue to call and verify that the amounts have not changed.
Guns and ammo, even empty shell casings? Absolutely not! Illegal drugs? Absolutely not! Weed is not legal, and your U.S. medical marijuana card has no validity here. Profiling is alive and well in Mexico: When I get pulled over at the border they almost never go through my purse, but you can bet that when spring break rolls around purses will be searched. Why? Kids and vape pens, legal (to them) weed, edibles, etc. At my age I look like I may be smuggling alcohol, at their age they are obviously looking for illegal drugs. Just don’t or FAFO.
I’m going to continue this, but I think I’ve used up all my space and wasted some of the OGs time, but thanks for reading 😊 I don’t mean to sound bitchy, but some lessons need to be learned because they are just not going to change anytime soon. Newbies, please do some research and not just on social media. Most of the important stuff is listed in this paper so read it and then go on the internet. Read the official Spanish version and make good use of your translator – you’ll probably even learn a few new Spanish words. And internet peeps, please STOP giving people crap advice!! Just because you’ve been getting away with it or it hasn’t happened to you doesn’t mean it won’t happen to them! If you are met with an injustice, then please report it or give us a call and we will help you. If you break the law – even one you didn’t know about – use that gained knowledge to educate others. Read past the headlines, seek out more than 2 or 3 sources of information and let’s all do better and be better people this year. If the potholes aren’t fixed this year, then all bets are off!
Lastly, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Mario and Alicia who really do the heavy lifting around here. They have been a part of this paper for over 19 years and absolutely love their community and all of you…I could give or take a lot of you, that’s why I love them to pieces!! I sincerely hope everyone has a super spectacular New Year and cheers to a stellar 2025!!!!!! See you at the beach!
