Staying Safe In Baja California Sur

Several representatives of the Consulate General of the United States in Tijuana came to San Jose del Cabo yesterday to assure U.S. citizens who live fulltime or part-time at the southern reaches of Baja California Sur that they have their back. Here is some of what I learned:

- Despite Mexico's continuing brutal drug war, chances of an innocent being killed by narco-related violence in Baja California Sur are fairly remote. During the past calendar year, 1,007 narco murders occurred in Baja California, the state just to the north, which includes Tijuana. In contrast, only nine narco murders occurred in Baja California Sur, which is where we reside during the winter. This comforting word was delivered by Ben Whitaker, special agent with the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service.

- My odds of being traumatized by narco-related crime will increase if I decide to drive back to California from San Jose del Cabo, however. The biggest threat during such a trek is carjacking, said Whitaker. Cartels running drugs up the peninsula apparently need more vehicles, or at least want bigger ones. To get them, they are apt to set up phony checkpoints on the transpeninsular highway, though this has been rare, he was quick to note. By my experience in driving the route, a genuine military blockade pops up on the highway about every 100 miles. So how is a motorist to tell the legitimate checkpoint from the fake? Motorists can feel somewhat secure that they are approaching a real checkpoint, said Whitaker, if signs to alert travelers of an impending mandatory stop have been set up starting about 1,000 meters before the roadblock, if cones to guide motorists into the correct lane have been arranged on the pavement, and if a guy in military fatigues waving a flag and "looking bored" is directing traffic. Motorists can best help assure their well-being by driving only during the daytime, sticking to toll roads whenever possible (which is rare), and remaining alert to whatever is going on around them. If all the drug runners want is your vehicle, give it to them while remaining polite and humble and avoiding eye contact, Whitaker indicated. One final tip: If you have a choice between driving a sedan or an SUV on your trip through the peninsula, go with the sedan; drug cartels love SUVs, which give them more room for hauling contraband. I love our Ford Explorer, but not as much today as yesterday.

- The odds of the northwest peninsula becoming another battleground in Mexico for competing drug cartels is remote, indicated Whitaker. That's because the Sinola narcotics organization has such a strong hold on the area that no other drug cartel is eager to challenge it. "No one has the power or ability to mess with them," said Whitaker. I'm not sure how reassuring that is, but henceforth whenever I arrive at an intersection simultaneously with a car bearing Sinola plates no one will need to remind me who has the right of way.

- Thinking of driving to Baja California from California for spring break? San Ysidro just south of San Diego is the safest border crossing, said Whitaker. It's always open, it's well lit, and U.S. law-enforcement agencies have a high profile at that entry.

- Lynne Skeirik, the deputy counsel general stationed in Tijuana, who conducted Tuesday's gathering, offered no help in resolving a problem that continues to stymie me: How do I get the aforementioned SUV registered without returning it to California for its periodic emission-control checkup? I really didn't expect her to have an answer, given that regulations governing vehicle registration are the responsibility of state officials, not federal authorities, and California representatives of the DMV already have told me I can't get any sort of extension or exemption. Local residents at the meeting suggested some alternatives, including registering the rig in South Dakota, but I don't live there and have no intention to relocate.

- No one knows for sure, but between 13,000 and 15,000 expats from the U.S. are believed to live in Los Cabos, with 5,000 alone scattered along the stunning and remote East Cape, a serene stretch of hills and beaches ranging north beside the Gulf of California from San Jose del Cabo. It's home to prized marlin fishing, as well as the artsy community of Los Barriles and the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park, celebrated for sea kayaking and mountain hiking. Water there is in short supply and the roads are unpaved, but the East Cape is the setting for the sort of large and posh homes chosen to illustrate articles about luxury living in Baja California Sur. It's a favorite retreat of several California winemakers. It's also so isolated that consulate officials wish some of its residents would volunteer to join its "warden network," which sounds like something out of "True Grit," and indeed isn't far removed from early frontier telegraph communications. Inspired by World War II "air raid wardens" who were to alert their fellow citizens of potential attack, members of the warden network are to keep consulate authorites up to speed on perceived dangers in outlying areas, whether the problem be hurricane, terrorist threat or spike in crime. You can learn more by reading this State Department document. And anyone interested in signing on should contact Skeirik via email: ACSTijuana@state.gov.

- When U.S. citizens in Baja California Sur are the victims of crime it's usually burglary, officials and residents appeared to concur. Solid wood doors that can be well locked and bars on windows are the starting point in securing a residence. Alarm systems and private patrols look to be rising in popularity. Opinion about whether police should be notified in case of a breakin looked to be divided and uncertain. Investigations aren't necessarily pursued eagerly, and some residents don't trust local police, said participants. On the other hand, a police report is necessary to collect on an insurance policy, noted Skeirik.