Avoiding Bandits with Badges

I think you did the right thing.

I was just in the zona and even the chicas were warning me to be careful around the police. Carry as little cash as possible. No drugs. And yes, they advised ducking into a store if you see them coming. I feel like it doesn't look as suspicious as it might to an American cop, because in this case, both you and they are well aware they could rob you.

There was one night this weekend where we were out walking around with a pair of chicas and encountered la policia estatales. I think they are corrupt but maybe not as bad as la policia municipal. Still, the chicas took am awkwardly wide berth around them. One of them told me "Tranquillo" - stay calm.

This is a serious question...have you considered what the point is where the juice won't be worth the squeeze? No judging, but there seems to be a trend in these posts lately.

Wall, I've thought about it quite a bit. The bottom line is: corrupt police are an annoyance, but it's not the end of the world.

The worst case scenario in the zona is bringing a bankroll and losing it all. If that happened to me I'd be devastated personally and probably never come back to the zona.

But that's incredibly unlikely to happen. The cops don't usually pull cabs or the zona shuttle over, and once you get to room and can safely store the bank roll, you're all set.

Most of the time you're just risking the cash your pocket. I'd be pissed if I got robbed by the police, but it wouldn't ruin my weekend, let alone the Zona in general. My reaction would probably be similar to @PutaTester, who posted about getting robbed by the police recently. I'd be aggravated, but it wouldn't stop me from enjoying myself that trip.

It's an annoyance that's easily completely outweighed by the fact that the Zona is absolutely fucking amazing, like a disneyland for mongers.