Driving passed the little police "caseta" in my nieghborhood, I noticed nobody was in there. However, a little further down the road there they were. They set up a little roadblock so they can conduct a random DUI check. The funny thing is that the way that they test to see if you are drunk is by cupping their hands and asking you to blow into them. Then they smell their hands. I guess it must work, because they were in the process of towing someone elses car away.
Towing is the new big business. They stop you for whatever reason (so how do you argue with someone who is smelling his own hands and says YOU are drunk?!?!) and tow your vehicle away and charge anywhere from $1,000-10,000 pesos for you to get it back. This is currently part of the "año de hidalgo" since the local government is going out and a new one is coming in. Año de hidalgo is the last year of an administration and is usually characterized by an increase in corruption and getting as much out of the government as possible for personal gain since you don't know if you will have a job in the new administration. It is call "año de hidalgo" because it rhymes with “chingue a su m... él que deje algo”)=you must be a real dumb ass if you leave any money on the table."
I have had to take the "Mexican Breathalyzer" before. What a joke. A few months ago, they tried it again at Bonampak and Coba and believe it or not, the cop was drunk or under some kind of chemical influence. They tried that "we will tow your car and give you a ride to the hospital to test your blood" thing. I just argued with the guy until he gave up and went to bother/rip off someone else. This is so not right. However, a week or so ago I read that they are now going to spend money on real breathalyzers and stop spending on radar guns. It is so obvious a ploy for easer and larger bribes. Does anyone know the standard for being under the inluence in terms of blood alcohol level?
Same thing happened to me TJ a few years ago going to work early in the morning. Stopped me and he reeked of alcohol but when I told him I hadn't had a drink for 20 years "¿y usted"?, he let me go.
