Federal Police took my vehicle

On May 28, I was stopped & asked for my permit to have my South Dakota plated vehicle in Mexico. I was accompanied at all times by a Mexican/English speaking friend. I produced my Mx Drivers lic, Non Immigrante visa, vehicle permit(entered in 2008). Feds stated it was expired & that they were taking my vehicle because I had not paid annual tax. I produce Articulo 106-IV stating my Permit was good as long as my Visa was current. Feds stated that was not important & took my vehicle (violation 49.70)& threatened me with jail. I told them I was calling The U.S. consulate, and they did not put me in jail. They also said my Immigration was probably false. The next day I had to sign papers that said I was guilty(after being jail threatened & told that my car would be kept months-necessary to check USA for past violations, etc), pay them 5,000 pesos (half of their asking)(plus a lawyer that supported their position) to get my vehicle returned. The payment & papers were at the Federal Ministero Publicos office. Location is not printed here to avoid repercussions. I was WARNED)I am hearing more of these cases. Driving a Mexican plated car is now a must, as this will probably happen again & again. Note that, I never had the chance to offer "to settle roadside".
I was "delivered to the Ministero Publico's office". The Fed officer showed up both days.

I am really, really sorry that this happened to you.
Lu

WHERE did this happen....Chapala, Ajijic, Guadalajara????? Hopefully Spencer can weigh in on this.

I cannot give location due to the fact that I have been warned, not to call consulate, complain on the Fed Police Denuncia line, etc
I have advised Spencer, but asked for no action due to above.

Even the lawyer that works for the city involved stated that I should have paid the taxes, after reading the Ley Aduanera y su Reglamento en Espanol. articulo 106 and was supportive of the Feds taking my car
Violation 49, 70. Which he read AND the Minestero Publico said both of above was not important.

I posted this to advise ALL foreign plated owners that this is forthcoming.
The Feds have found this "area" and if questioned can say that the Permit was expired and they have received no other "training" on this. The Fed Commandantes are talking with each other
The Fed Commandante in this area(not to far from here) is driving a new 600,000 peso car
ENUF SAID?

REMEMBER this, Some Police are working with the Narcos, and all they have to do is point a finger at me & I am in body parts

That really sucks,I thought articulo 106 covered that.What annual taxes were they talking about?

Wow! I am so sorry this happened to you.

I suggest you make an honest attempt to comply with the local laws and regulations regarding vehicle registration instead of trying to save a few bucks by using a bogus expired South Dakota registration and a technical loophole in the immigration law. Where I come from, California, they have strict laws that require you to register your vehicle and pay the fees within ten days of becoming a resident there. If you don't comply with the law and get caught, they will impound the car immediately. Then you must prove that you have complied with the law in order to get the car returned. How do they deal with this kind of situation where you come from? What makes you think you have the right to flaunt these laws and regulations just because you're in Mexico?

Well said..

Articulo 106 is not a tecnical loophole in the immigration law,it's part of the Ley Aduanera.

We have always kept our plates current and just figured we would do as much as possible to keep ourselves off the radar.

Ok.. but why not skip the loophole and do the proper Mexico protocol. Granted I don't do the visa I am a part-timer ...I am out of the loop due the drug war and my tx residence I haven't been down in a while. However I do own a home in mx and Will not sell as of yet. I am taking the wait and see approach. If what s.d says becomes the norm I would think compliance would be worth thinking about.

Parker wrote:We have always kept our plates current and just figured we would do as much as possible to keep ourselves off the radar.

But have you renewed your vehicle import permit?

espíritu del lago wrote:Ok.. but why not skip the loophole and do the proper Mexico protocol.

It's not a loophole and just what is the proper Mexico protocol?

Sounds to me they were referring to the Mexico permit being expired ... not the SD registration.

If this is not total BS then it sounds like evryone needs to visit Aduana every year

Our understanding is that if you’re legal somewhere than your legal here. Others have stated that we didn’t need to keep our plates current but we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves which we felt this would have.

Sundown, were your plates current?

viajero wrote:

Parker wrote:We have always kept our plates current and just figured we would do as much as possible to keep ourselves off the radar.

But have you renewed your vehicle import permit?

And how would a person do that?

Try to pay attention Parker,the issue is the import permit.

viajero wrote:Try to pay attention Parker,the issue is the import permit.

How do you renew the import permit?

rjf1943 wrote:

viajero wrote:

Parker wrote:We have always kept our plates current and just figured we would do as much as possible to keep ourselves off the radar.

But have you renewed your vehicle import permit?

And how would a person do that?

A visit to Aduana. Most people are doing this to preserve their deposit ... but those of us tha have been here awhile have no deposit to protect

Aduana will give you a permit extension for free

rjf1943 wrote:

viajero wrote:

Parker wrote:We have always kept our plates current and just figured we would do as much as possible to keep ourselves off the radar.

But have you renewed your vehicle import permit?

And how would a person do that?

I understand that Spencer provides that service for a reasonable fee,if I lived at lakeside I would let him handle it,otherwise you're probably looking at a few trips to the aduana @ GDL.I asked him about this once he told me that legally I wasn't required to renew but it seemed a little grey.

Vieajaro, I am not in the same boat as you all are.. I do the 180day so.. color me as not knowing the law... As to proper protocol in mx we all know too well that there are exceptions to the rules.

sparks wrote:

rjf1943 wrote:

viajero wrote:

Parker wrote:We have always kept our plates current and just figured we would do as much as possible to keep ourselves off the radar.

But have you renewed your vehicle import permit?

And how would a person do that?

A visit to Aduana. Most people are doing this to preserve their deposit ... but those of us tha have been here awhile have no deposit to protect

Aduana will give you a permit extension for free

I did that last week, so I assume I am ok............but what is violation 49.70? I would pay an annual tax on a foreign plated vehicle but I do not know of such a procedure.

I've never heard of a tax .... maybe a misunderstanding in more ways than one

viajero wrote:Try to pay attention Parker,the issue is the import permit.

Our understanding is they’re all connected. And if your FMM/FM2/FM3 is current and your plates are current then your permit is O.K. even though it may have expired. Let’s wait to hear from sundown so we get a better idea of what’s going on.

Interesting commentary but, as Paul Harvey would ask, what is the rest of the story? If all is as the OP stated, then there is a conflict in the applicable law. This has never been an issue in the past. Yhe police's atitude seems hostile. Why? A trip to aduana to check on their perspective of the law and the case in point would be prudent. While there, check on the tax referred to.