Scam or bureaucratic nonsense at 28th parallel

[tony_lee]

Pulled up at the agricultural inspection point at the Baja tuning fork expecting either a detailed inspection or a wavethrough, but instead the official demanded 20 pesos. For what? I asked. Disinfection, he said pointing to the narrow grill on the road from which a very fine mist was issuing and rising maybe 6" off the road surface. I also queried the motley assortment of vehicles that were bypassing me and was told they were army. 20 pesos paid and a receipt given.

Seems a bit of a joke given that the grid was so narrow that 90% of each wheel would not get sprayed and I doubt the very fine low pressure spray would have reached the underside of the MH anyway.

Be interesting to know what was in that spray.

Reminded me of a similar situation down in South America. We crossed a river and then drove into the Chile border where we completed the usual formalities and then three SAG people came out, one with a backpack spray on and two supervisors, to spray for Didymos (a snot-like algae they are trying to stop spreading). So with great care and ceremony he went around the car spraying the wheels and door sills to the point of run-off and then the boss indicated it was all complete and we could go. I got down on my knees and very pointedly looked under the car to see that the entire underside and the inside of the wheels were all completely unsprayed even though they had been fully submerged in the infected river. Doh!!!
At least that spray was free.

[dons2346]

I remember the spray can up and down the isles. I have had my suit cases opened for inspection looking for aphids and then had a big yellow sticker that had "APHIDS" placed over the latch signifying that I had been checked

[More_To_See]

I seem to remember a similar agricultural undercarriage spray station up at 47 degrees north latitude after getting off the ferry in Newfoundland many years ago. But they didn't require any pesos.

I had to look up that latitude and in the process learned that Paris France sits on the same line - - but much farther east for those who skipped geography.

[navegator]

20 pesos is a little more than one dollar, maybe the mist does something good maybe not, many moons ago when we landed in the USA, the steward would walk down with an aerosol can spaying the overhead bins, a requirement for the Department of Agriculture of the US, I do not think that that did any good but then some desk jokey government boss has a brain f**t and comes up with this.

It is the same as the border check points on the roads in the USA all of the prohibited merchandise is still going through and they are just inconvenient stops for all those travelling, I can drive from San Diego to Los Ángeles with out ever being stopped by CBP on the back roads.

Do not sweat the little stuff, now if they say they are going to arrest you then start sweating otherwise vive la vida loca viejo.

navegator