Hiway robbery in Tonala?

Just received an email... rumor has it that... "in Tonala the police have been stopping gringos and robbing them, sometimes at gunpoint."
Anybody hear anything about this? It was not attributed to any source...
So... what's your take on this... fact or fiction? Lizzy

It's fact Lizzie and has been reported on both boards. The word out is not to use that bypass. I'll let others let you know exactly where it is...but it was supposed to save time as it is a cutoff from the Guad/Chapala highway up to the highway going east out of Guadalajara.

I think the part that isn't a fact is whether these are real cops or not. I think not........

I would think that they are real cops. Police here are not thouht of as being the good guys here by my Mexican friends.

I know the policia will press pretty hard for mordida but pulling guns and robbing people on a regular basis on the same stretch of road. I have my doubts.....

They have already caught several cholos/narcos with police uniforms including one that was killed in that shootout in Chapala last year or so.

Just my opinion and maybe one day I will have the misfortunate to see it up close. Hopefully not.......

Didn't Maincoons get jacked on that road? He should have some real insights on the situation.

Well it's posted in the proper section. Most likely fake cops and who knows wheter it fact or rumour or fiction? Time will tell.

I wonder if this one is like the girl getting kidnapped at Soriana by four gunmen. Never believed that one.

Don't have your doubts, CB. It happened to me, it happened to our good friend on the block behind us who were boosted for 1500 pesos. In addition, there were two reports of additional robberies on that road in the last month by cops. One victim was able to get the car number of the cops and it was a Tonala car according to the Federales.

Here's the MO. They stop you claiming to be looking for guns and drugs. If you open the door, they pull the husband out and put him against the car while they root through possessions and purses, taking things and money.

I don't know if this would work but one woman refused to pull over and drove until she got to a Pemex station down the road and past that section where they are conducting the robberies. They gave up on her before she got there. But in another case, they tried to force the victims well off the road. It appears that 4 cops are involved in this. They take off their nametags and they keep you away from their cruiser supposedly to try and stop you from identifying it.

While it saves about 20 minutes and one toll, until the Federales get out there and put a stop to this, we're going to avoid that road. In a couple years, there is supposed to be complete a south ring-road cuota which will take us from around the La Barca exit to the Zapotlanejo exit. Supposedly, it is due to start construction shortly. Carlos Slim is the major investor so the money is there. In about 3 years, it will circle all the way around to the PV road, totally bypassing GDL. It will definitely be worth paying the tolls!

BTW, the road we are talking about is the Zapotlanejo exit which is the very first one past the airport going north. They built a 7 mile connector to the existing Tonala-Zapotlanejo road (alt. Mex80) and it is in the new stretch that the robberies are occurring on.

I just took the time to check the map and from MC's description of the section of highway where the alleged robberies have taken place does not even appear to be in Tonala.

Mainecoons wrote:Don't have your doubts, CB. It happened to me, it happened to our good friend on the block behind us who were boosted for 1500 pesos. In addition, there were two reports of additional robberies on that road in the last month by cops. One victim was able to get the car number of the cops and it was a Tonala car according to the Federales.

Here's the MO. They stop you claiming to be looking for guns and drugs. If you open the door, they pull the husband out and put him against the car while they root through possessions and purses, taking things and money.

I don't know if this would work but one woman refused to pull over and drove until she got to a Pemex station down the road and past that section where they are conducting the robberies. They gave up on her before she got there. But in another case, they tried to force the victims well off the road. It appears that 4 cops are involved in this. They take off their nametags and they keep you away from their cruiser supposedly to try and stop you from identifying it.

While it saves about 20 minutes and one toll, until the Federales get out there and put a stop to this, we're going to avoid that road. In a couple years, there is supposed to be complete a south ring-road cuota which will take us from around the La Barca exit to the Zapotlanejo exit. Supposedly, it is due to start construction shortly. Carlos Slim is the major investor so the money is there. In about 3 years, it will circle all the way around to the PV road, totally bypassing GDL. It will definitely be worth paying the tolls!

And they are pulling their guns on people as reported above??

In one reported case, yes. Generally no. But they definitely throw their weight around. The threat is definitely there.

I have a friend in Guadalajara form Conn. who is married to a Mexican woman and has lived here 20 years. When I had a problem in Guadalajara I mentioned next time I would call the police. He said NO NO don't call the police, they may do something even worse. So it could be real cops or fake cops - who knows, just avoid that bypass!

Oy vey! Gotta hand it to you guys ... you deal well with adversity.
That said, I remember the Revolution in Panama when we were there... back in the Stone Age.
No school... they were all closed. I don't think I minded too much... but things were *T*E*N*S*E to say the least.
All in all I would rather not live in a war zone... Stay vigilant you all. Lizzy

To categorize this section of highway a "war zone" based upon a few anecdotal incidents is a bit over the top! We read posts by people all the time that claim the route from Chapala to Laredo is 100% safe because the last time the particular party drove it, nothing happened to them. I would speculate that a good deal less than 1 or 2% of the people who have driven this particular route have experienced any type of problem. In fact, I know one person who may have driven round trip on this route more times than all of the rest of the Lake Chapala residents combined and has never had a single problem.

It may just be a matter of drawing the short straw or the black bean?

Sorry for the unfortunate turn of phrase... 'twas poetic, if a trifle overblown.
The suggestion to maintain a heightened awareness still stands, however. L

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

Sorry to disagree with many previous posts...Local Policia would not risk exposure.......If I am in question , speed to a neutral location....beyond that...I am packin heat, and can pull the trigger....let the policia explain....why they took me out? I have no fear for travel here

Jim w

Ya might want to cork it Jim...

RoofBob wrote:Ya might want to cork it Jim... :30:

C'mon, don't spoil the fun. Let's see him do his Chuck Norris routine.

simpsca wrote:I have a friend in Guadalajara form Conn. who is married to a Mexican woman and has lived here 20 years. When I had a problem in Guadalajara I mentioned next time I would call the police. He said NO NO don't call the police, they may do something even worse. So it could be real cops or fake cops - who knows, just avoid that bypass!

Interestingly, I have a friend here who dates a Mexican girl from GDL and the three of us went out to dinner and this topic came up. She said that it is general knowledge among her circle there that this road is the scene of frequent cop robberies and should be avoided. Sounds to me like they may be hitting the local Mexicans as well.

RoofBob wrote:Ya might want to cork it Jim...

R-Bob, you do have a point. There are some things it does not pay to advertise... and one's enemies are best left in the dark... Lizzy

Yes Lizzy and the drinking lamp was lit and the night, she was young.

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

Exactly how would that work? The guys seem to come out of nowhere. There are few retornos on that stretch. They come up behind you, lights flashing. What do you do? Pull over or keep going until you're off that stretch. One lady did that and got away with it but they might not like it if a guy does it.

BTW, one of the ways you know for sure you have the bandits is that they take their name tags off.

So now you're pulled over and they want you to open the car and get out. Do you do it? Do you demand to see their identification first? Do you offer to follow them to the Federale station at the airport where you can be legitimately checked for guns and dope?

If you don't open the car, what happens if they pull a gun on you like they did to at least one victim we know of?

Really CG, I'm not trying to be a smart aleck here. I know that you have a lot of experience driving in this country. I'd really be interested in how you'd handle this.