You Are So Busted!
 Christopher Reynolds - Los Angeles Times
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| | In hotspot Mexico, most Americans can stay out of trouble by heeding some simple advice: Don't do anything in Mexico that you wouldn't do in the United States. |
Where, outside his or her home country and Iraq, is an American most likely to get into trouble? If getting arrested is your measure of trouble, the answer is Mexico. More specifically, it's Tijuana, followed by Guadalajara, Nuevo Laredo and, across the Atlantic, London.
That's the upshot of a new tally by the U.S. State Department tracking arrests of Americans abroad last year. Drawing on reports from more than 290 cities worldwide, State Department officials counted 4,456 arrests abroad last year, up from 3,614 in 2005 but down slightly from 4,473 in 2003.
The top 10 cities where Americans were arrested and the number taken into custody:
1. Tijuana: 520
2. Guadalajara: 416
3. Nuevo Laredo: 359
4. London: 274
5. Mexico City: 208
6. Toronto: 183
7. Nassau, Bahamas: 108
8. Merida, Mexico: 99
9. Nogales, Mexico: 96
10. Hong Kong: 90
The numbers included no details on offenses or time in custody and might not be comprehensive, State Department officials say, because they generally depend on foreign governments and families of those arrested for information.
Officials say alcohol, drugs and possession of guns at border checkpoints have long been common causes for arrests of Americans in Mexico and Canada.
In hotspot Mexico, most Americans can stay out of trouble by heeding some simple advice, according to Juan Saldana, marketing manager of the Tijuana Convention and Visitors Bureau: "Follow basic, logical behavior. Don't do anything in Mexico that you wouldn't do in the United States."
Further cautionary words come from the State Department, which reports that since the beginning of 2002, at least 21 American citizens have died in custody in Mexico and that "Mexican police regularly obtain information through torture." |
Vallarta Weddings
Travel & Outdoors | November 2007 
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