No doubt, many of you who know me, have heard about my recent experience with the Mexican (in)justice system. Now, I would like the truth to be known.

On Saturday, July 31st. this last summer, I was at my home in Mexicali, hanging out the laundry, about 4:45 PM, when a band of heavily armed, masked men came at me in my yard, yelling at me to get my hands up and get down on the ground. They were dressed in camouflage gear and were very menacing, with their weapons constantly pointed at me. They shoved me into my house, where more men dressed in the same manner were walking throughout my house. First one then another, then another asked me if I had any drugs or arms, to which I replied “Who are you and do you have some kind of a search warrant?” To which one of them replied ”We are the police and we don’t need a search warrant.”

I said “I know my rights and yes you do!”

Again one of them replied “In these times of so much violence against the police, we don’t have time for a search warrant.”

Thinking that there would be no problem, I told them about a gun that an old customer of mine had left me before he moved back to the U.S.. I had hidden it in my bedroom and told them where they could find it. They continued to grill me about more guns and drugs and anything else illegal that I might have in the house. I tried to explain to them that I don’t do drugs and that there was only the one small caliber hand gun. They began to turn the house upside down, looking for more “illegal” items. All the while, two of them were grilling me about what I did for a living, where I got my money, how much money I had, etc. I tried to explain that I was running a small restaurant and it was new and wasn’t doing so well and that I was in the process of closing it, with the intention of returning to Canada, very soon.

After about an hour, one of them came out of the bedroom, with a hand full of DVDs and said that they were child pornography, to which I replied that he was crazy. Then another one came out with several photos of teenage girls, some of which also included me. He stated that these were the same girls that were in the videos. The photos of the girls, by the way, were taken at family events such as birthday parties and Christmas time. They were fully clothed in these photos and were given to me by the mother of the girls, as keepsakes.

A short while later they threw the DVDs, an old video cassette camera (with no battery), the photos and a couple of video cassettes, into a bag and asked me for the keys to my car. Two of them went outside, I imagined to search my car, and returned a short time later asking if it ran OK. I told them it had a transmission problem and very little gasoline.

I asked them what they were doing with my car and they said they needed to search it better, at the police station. I told them that it probably wouldn’t make it, but they just laughed. While waiting for them to finish their “search”, I overheard two of them outside the door, one asked the other if he had any ‘mota’ (marijuana), because they only had me for the gun. I must have still had some good luck that day because none of them had any drugs to plant on me. At that point, they led me out of the house, to the police vehicles that had the street blocked for over an hour and a half. Off we went, with sirens and lights blazing, at high rates of speed, to the state police station. What a show, squealing the tires, up on the sidewalks, down the wrong side of the road, all to get this terrible criminal to headquarters, in a big hurry.

After more grilling, photos, fingerprinting and report writing they decided to take me to the municipal police station, where there was supposedly a doctor, to give me a medical exam to verify that they hadn’t beaten me. When we got there, the doctor wasn’t in and they then decided to take me over to the state police substation in Polanco, where they confirmed that a doctor was on duty. Off we went again, sirens wailing, lights blazing, to the other side of Mexicali.

After that exam, it was back to the headquarters for more grilling, more photos and more reports. When they were finally done with me they told me that there wasn’t enough evidence for the kiddy porn charges but they would turn me and everything over to the federal police for further investigation. Away we went, again. This time with my car in the convoy, until it ran out of gas just a few blocks away from the state police HQ. They pushed it to a gas station, put in 20 pesos and we were off again, this time to the AFI headquarters in New Mexicali.

It was now 9:30 at night. The federal District Attorney asked me a few questions, I told him what had happened and then he sent me to the guards’ room, where it was more photos and reports. The guard was very sympathetic and said that the state police were always doing things in a similar manner.

After 36 hours, the D.A. called me into his office and asked me if I was ready to sign a confession, to which I replied no, that my rights were violated and that the so called “evidence” was not useable against me. Keep the gun, I really didn’t care about it and cut me loose. He said that if I wanted to pursue the complaint against the state police that he would have to call immigration and have me deported, with no chance to get my car or any of my possessions back. I told him that I wanted to talk to the Canadian Consulate and have a lawyer present. He then took me to a telephone and we called the Canadian Consulate, in Tijuana.

The Consul’s assistant told me to file charges against the state police for rights violations and that they (the consul) were in no position, at that time, to help me. It was back to lock-up, for another 10 hours. This time, they called me into an interview room adjacent to the cells where there was a public defender awaiting me. She read me the charges that the state police had made against me and their report, for the first time since I had been arrested. I was shocked by their version of what had happened. It was nothing that at all resembled the actual events that had taken place that day. Now I understood why they had taken my car, they had to use it to justify “stopping me” and discovering the evidence, in my car.

I told her what the Canadian Consulate had advised me to do and what the D.A. had said he would do, if I did file the complaint. She said she would do whatever I decided but she would have to discuss it with the D.A. When she came back, she verified what the D.A. had told me earlier, about the deportation. She also said that he had made me an offer and that after an investigation by the AFI there was no evidence of Child Pornography, so if I plead guilty to the gun offence, there would be a small fine and I could get out quickly, on bail. To me that meant that I could get my car back, sell off my household goods and go back to Canada, really soon, so I agreed.

I was unable to read the statement that I signed, because I had no reading glasses with me, at the time. I was told that it was similar to the version given by the state police in their report. I thought that I had made the best choice. Oh how wrong I was. They then took me to the state prison facility in Mexicali. I am not going to go on about how incredibly horrible and inhumane that place is, that is another story altogether. I spent two months in that hell-hole and can only say this, I would rather die than go back inside!! The ASPCA treats animals 1000 times better than they do in that place.

As a result of the press printing the information released to them by the PEP State Police weekly press release, my reputation has been completely ruined, my life totally destroyed and I am left with absolutely nothing. The PEP police stole just about anything of value that they could pocket, took all of the money out of my wallet, left my house wide open after they said that they had locked it and thieves stole the rest. I lost my car, the amount to get it out of the federal impound yard just kept going up until it was more than the car was worth. The D.A. asked for an additional $500 dollars to sign the release form and it just went on and on, until I finally gave up .

As best as I can figure, this all happened to me because a 17 year old Mexican boy, whom I had allowed to spend Saturdays with his girlfriend who was working for me at the restaurant, got mad at me. After three strong warnings to stop his inappropriate behavior with her, I banned him from coming back. On his way out the door, he told me I would be sorry. Six days later, the above incident took place. An anonymous phone call to the police hotline and voila instant revenge. The Mexican Press say that it’s old news and don’t want to print a retraction. I could sue them, but what’s the point? In Mexico there are no punitive damages awarded to the plaintiff. The National Human Rights Commission are currently investigating but they have no real clout and can only make recommendations to the corresponding authority. The State Prosecutor’s office refused to investigate my complaint, for lack of evidence and because I had signed a confession. What a surprise!!

You can draw your own conclusions. I have copies of the court documents that outline the only charge that I was convicted of, that of carrying a weapon without a permit. The judge even released my car, saying that it was of no interest in the case but the D.A. had to sign the final release forms, and we know how that went.

From my experience, the majority of the Mexican Justice System is corrupt and functions solely around money. I am certain that if I had had enough money to pay off the police, it would have gone no further. My car would have been returned to me, if I had been able to pay the D.A. his “cut”.

In my experienced opinion and that of lawyers and others who have had similar dealings, the system is very corrupt and doesn’t function as a justice system at all. The only thing that separates the police and the criminals that they are supposed to be protecting the citizens from, is the badge that they carry and the authority that they have. They are nothing more than a band of lying, thieving extortionists that go around violating peoples’ rights with no fear of reprisal. The rest of the so called justice system backs them up and protects them. They have no respect for the Mexican Constitution, that supposedly guarantees the rights and freedoms of all persons in Mexico, nationals and immigrants.

It is indeed a very sad day for Mexico, if this is any kind of indicator of how things really are in the Mexican Justice System. A prison facility that was originally designed to house 800 inmates is crammed to inhumane living conditions with over 4500 persons, living in the same space, many of whom should never be there. For lack of means to hire a lawyer and/or pay bail or bribes for their release they are often trapped in the system until their sentencing hearing date. More often than not, the time served is more than the sentence that they receive. Mexico will never be a true democracy until drastic reforms to the criminal justice system are made. No matter how much money is spent on propaganda to convince people otherwise, the people of Mexico will never be truly free, until the corruption is made to go away.

I am now out of Mexico and living in a true democracy. After fifteen years of living and doing business there, I will never return. I certainly cannot recommend even a visit there without exercising extreme precaution. You don’t know who the bad guys are until you end up a victim.

Ted Emery