Following the effective period for the importation of vehicles and the imposition of rules that inhibit the registration of automobiles, the illegal introduction of vehicles into Mexico has increased. It is estimated that about one million cars circulate with foreign plates, expired plates or without importation documents, also known as 'chocolates'.

These cars travel through the five municipalities of Baja California, without complying with federal, state and municipal laws and regulations. In addition, they do not pay for the general importation tax, value added tax, as well as not complying with registering with the state government, vehicle registration, plates, civil liability insurance, or the vehicle emission verification program, among others.

Hence the issue of 'chocolate' cars is not only an economic issue, due to the effects on organized trade, or tax evasion, but also public and even environmental security. Mexicali is among the five most polluted cities in Mexico.

The root of the problem? Corruption, impunity and influence peddling. In an interview with Business Conexión, the president of Canaco-Servytur Tijuana, Gilberto Leyva Camacho, asks the mayor of Tijuana to apply the law to those who circulate without plates.

"100% of illegal activities in Tijuana are committed in illegal cars, all drug dealers circulate in illegal cars," he notes. In addition, it is said that in 25% of traffic incidents in Tijuana, the drivers do not have liability insurance. In about 50% of these incidents, cars that circulate illegally are involved. In many cases owners prefer to leave the units, so as to no face the responsibility of their actions, and the authorities do not have a way to identify the responsible party.

"These vehicles are using our streets, putting at risk the lives of our citizens, and polluting." Therefore the president of Canaco has asked the government to regulate these cars at once, but only if they have liability insurance and comply with NOM 043, the environmental regulation for vehicle emissions.

The traffic regulation and vehicle control of the municipality of Tijuana establishes that in the event that a vehicle circulates without license plates, the municipal agents are authorized to prevent its circulation and to send it to the junkyard.Why don't municipal police enforce the law? Leyva Camacho questions.He adds that those who do circulate with plates, but from Anapromex, generally do so without respecting traffic signals, "these are people who chose to not respect the law," but they are not sanctioned. "Is it that the law applies to all of us? If they do not have the money to pay the ticket, they should pay with social services like in the U.S," he suggests.

Anapromex or Onappafa are the organizations dedicated to the protection of irregular vehicles at this border. Owners must pay around $2,500 pesos (about $125 dollars), depending on the model and year of the vehicle, in exchange for a license plate sticker, two cardboard plates and an affiliation credential, "which have no legal value and do not prevent the seizure of the vehicle by the SAT. This means, Anapromex or Onappafa are totally illegal, "says Gilberto Leyva Camacho.

The national coordinator of Anapromex, Gilberto Núñez, has indicated that payment to join the association gives them the right to legal advice in case their unit is confiscated by the authorities."Although there is no guarantee that the vehicle will be regularized, nor that the vehicle will not be collected by the government," he said.

"Anapromex has been extorting people for 20 years," states the president of Canaco.

How is it still operating? How is it that its leader, Fidel Villanueva, has come out of prison twice?"Due to impunity and corruption in the country, because this man relies on intimidation," he laments.

"It is a shame that Fidel Villanueva is giving license plates and the government respects him, what is Antonio Valladolid doing? … Nothing," comments the head of Canaco.

"During the administration of the former governor of Baja California, Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millán, Fidel Villanueva, leader of Anapromex, was imprisoned twice after police officers filled an arrest warrant against him for use of valued or numbered forms, plates, cards or any means of counterfeit fiscal control. Eighteen offices he oversaw in Baja California were closed down and he accepted in his statements to the Public Ministry that up to that time, he had taken licensed over 500,000 cars, but after 10 months in prison he was released and sold the license plate stickers again," he recalls.

What role do Customs play in increasing the problem?

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"Tijuana is the city with the highest quantity of border crossings in the world. I understand that it is difficult for a manager at the border to detect irregular cars because it would cause chaos. However, what they can do is detect drivers who cross these cars, since they are usually the same. Some of these drivers are cynics who take Mexican plates and circulation cards to cross the cars,"he outlines.

"Some who cross 8 to 10 cars per day and charge $100 dollarsto cross each unit and deliver them within 50 meters of Customs. There are those who say that they pay a fee to Customs for each car they cross. It is even said that trucks used for public transportation pay a fee of $1,000 dollars," he notes. These are 'double' vehicles, that is, newly purchased units from the U.S. They are put to circulate public transportation with the documents of another unit of the same model that is in disuse, modifying the chassis and engine serial numbers. "I hope they can pay more attention to public transportation, because it is the petty cash fund of the municipalities," he says. "It would be better if this administration thought very seriously about how to dignify transportation, at least by complying with minimum standards, including vehicle verification"..... Continue reading article here