Photos of carjacked jeep and get away pickup

[Canadian_Rainbi]

See my previous post for details. here
Here are the pics.





And some earlier photos of the Jeep:

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Ever hear the campesinos lament? Do not forget to take your shadow or they will steal that too.

Chihuahuas on the roof. Best burglar alarm ever invented. Olfactory, optical and audio warning system. Progressive annunciation. The closer they get the louder and most insistent the barking. Under the right conditions, self-replicating. No batteries. Minimum power requirements. But they need watering.

[qtla9111]

I guess I'm too poor for any thief's taste. Most of my life here and never ripped off, bribed, beaten, mugged, nothing. Guess I should knock on wood and wait for my time to come.

We just came back from San Antonio, Tx and took the libre both ways. No issues. Nothing but kindness from officials. I wish the ICE would have treated us so nicely this afternoon before we crossed into Mexico.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Cities suck...........period. La Paz USED TO BE a cute but bustling place, with Dorian's Department Store having the only escalator in BCS.

A few years ago I visited and I couldn't wait to get the hell out. Same for most Mexican Cities. Even Ajijic, San Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara, and other gringo enclaves are targets of thieves. You couldn't get me to live in a city in the USA, Mexico, Canada, or freakin' outer Mongolia. Mexican VECINOS, neighbors, which really are friends in disguise are the best defense, but then in smaller towns, of a few hundred to a thousand. Don't feel bad, I have been RIPPED OFF so many times in the USA I lost count. What good is it, when the cops show up in sixty seconds flat, take a 100,000 word report and you still don't ever get your stuff back? Think about it...

[ghostrider421]

Executive wrote:
Sure makes me want to go to Mexico.....Dennis

We used to make an annual pilgrimage to Mexico - now that's all turned sour for us. Visiting is one thing and working here is entirely different.

We have been working in LaPaz since October and every week something goes missing, our condo has been broken into at least 3x since arriving. Our vehicles have been broken into, the indash gps and radios all broken out. The trailer has been trashed twice. I've just had it with the various police agencies. We gave our employer two days notice this morning - the vehicles are theirs to keep.

I've got everything packed and ready to fly out on Sunday to Rapid City. What used to be a beautiful place to visit, became the nightmare on Elm St.

Not everyone is going to appreciate this - the newer the vehicles and trailers the more likely to be stolen or broken into. My brother warned me about that - his boat looks like a pirate ship and no one wants to go aboard it.

[Tequila]

moisheh wrote:
Tequila: Do you want to die young? Even the police would not go after a stolen vehicle if they suspected the theft was narco related. I doubt the state or feds would be interested. Trying to "snatch" back your vehicle is not a good idea. If they want your truck get your wife and dog and step back! I think you are displaying a lot of paranoia that is not necessary. One stolen vehicle and not narcos. No violence. As you always say this could happen NOB. Are you going to disguise your truck with dirt and remove jacks in BC? If one has to constantly worry about these things then Mexico is the wrong destination. Or maybe anywhere is the wrong destination. How can one relax with all those worries?

Moisheh

You know some things are just common sense. If you do not intend to take a truck camper off, go without jacks, rental companies in BC remove them all the time. It becomes a Class C. I do not wash my truck down here, its like a woman wearing flashy jewelry in a 3rd world country. I do not have 4 x 4 logos on my truck, i know its a 4 x 4, I have no need to announce to the rest of the world it is. Obviously i would not try to snatch back my vehicle if it was up in hills, but if it was parked on a city street, why not?

It is not paranoia, just common sense.

[briansue]

We were in Patzcuaro a few weeks ago after the "troubles" started and though we saw police and military on the highways we saw no indication of any trouble of any kind in or around Patzcuaro. We visited several of the villages in the area and had no problem. We love Patzcuaro too. We find we simply cannot spend a lot of time worrying about this stuff. Yes, we are cautious and informed so we avoid known hotspots but we don't worry about most places.

[RonYVickie]

A related "security" thing - we arrived in Patzcuaro today from Zihua. We saw LOTS of state police, feds, and army on the way up here, but we didn't get checked at all. I had expected some visible signs here of the apparent "occupation" by the vigilantes, but nothing yet. Will have to take a collectivo in from here (Villas) and have a look. We came this way to avoid the coast, but now that we're here, we may as well enjoy it for a few days - we love this town ! Temps about 70, feels warmer in the sun and it's DRY ! RYV

[moisheh]

Tequila: Do you want to die young? Even the police would not go after a stolen vehicle if they suspected the theft was narco related. I doubt the state or feds would be interested. Trying to "snatch" back your vehicle is not a good idea. If they want your truck get your wife and dog and step back! I think you are displaying a lot of paranoia that is not necessary. One stolen vehicle and not narcos. No violence. As you always say this could happen NOB. Are you going to disguise your truck with dirt and remove jacks in BC? If one has to constantly worry about these things then Mexico is the wrong destination. Or maybe anywhere is the wrong destination. How can one relax with all those worries?

Moisheh

[Tequila]

They could, but that makes the vehicle more obvious and easy to spot which is probably not what they want. They may not also realize they can be separated. May be worth removing your jacks and maybe strapping them in a tarp up on your roof, so it looks like it cannot be removed. Regardless, for myself, i am picking up a spot trace on my way home. In the meantime i am strapping my handheld spot somewhere outside where i hope they will not notice it while i am traveling from point A to B. I have determined i can easily install the trace behind one of my side mirrors in the plastic housing and power it off the 12 v in there with a USB adapter. I guess the question is, would the police do anything even if they knew where it was. I suppose you could stake it out youself with a spare key and try to snatch it back. I worry more about my dog, i would want to ensure they do not drive off with him in there.

[JerBear]

Hey Tequila...my fear is that they would take the truck AND camper! I agree a dually is not what they are looking for.
JerBear

[Tequila]

Jer, i think your combo is safer from hijacking. They are looking for quick & easy. The camper mounted on a truck is a hinderance. Especially if you make removal harder by disabling the electric controller. 4wheel drive trucks & towed jeeps are more of a target. It is probaby prudent to remove 4 wheel drive stickers from the truck. If you have a dually, i also suspect it is not as desirable.

[JerBear]

We were very sorry to hear about this mishap. We were actually in Maruata Michoacán when it happened. Read it online and immediately went to the local Marine Base in Maruata. We were assured that the road North from Maruata was ok but admitted that there had been some issues on 200 South. They said if we felt better we could follow one of their patrols North when we left. They came to where we were camping on Friday and again assured us everything was ok Maruata North. We decided to go by ourselves. We left 7:30AM Sunday morning and we are happy to report we had no problems. Thank you very, very much for posting this story and alerting us. We hope all goes well for you with the insurance. Michoacán is our favorite state...let hope things return to the way they were!!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

PURE OPINION

Photos, images, IF THEY CAN BE OBTAINED WITHOUT RISK. A high megapixel camera set on max resolution with zoom. Canadian Rainbirds images are priceless.

I'm getting sort of tired reading mini tirades about Can't Happen North Of The Border. Read any damned newspaper and in the crime reports you will see carjackings, muggings, home invasions and worse. I HAVE BEEN ROBBED AT GUNPOINT TWICE IN MY LIFE. Both times in the USA. Both times in non ghetto areas, and I have spent by far most of my life after age 40 south of the border. You know, when all the "troubles" started making news. One robbery went unsolved. The other one was caught on a MEDICAL CENTER security camera and the cops nailed the bad guys. I got hurt the last time. The thugs knocked me blindsides into a wall on a stairs, injuring my shoulder. A big fat .45 was jammed against my ear as they took wallet, car keys, everything. Thank god I have a shoestring around my neck with spare keys. I was gurneyed into the E.R. The punks recognized a disabled elderly man and they took advantage of it. Are you Mexico bashers getting the point?


Wanna know what's WORSE than having an armed group of NARCOS holding you at gunpoint?
It's a PUNK waving a gun at you, nervous as hell with their hand shaking.

[Canada_Irl]

Rainbirds this was a very unfortunate incident and must have been very traumatic as well. Fortunately you are both alive to deal with the insurance issues. Dealing with insurance is usually a hassle wherever you are but even more so in a foreign country. Good luck.

I am interested in what advise you have for others to avoid such a situation and what you would have done differently.

PS to those that would have done this or that your brain and adrenalin take over, no two situations are the same and every one reacts differently. You will never know until you are there. These people came out of this unharmed therefore they reacted perfectly!