Mayor Ismael Burgueño’s administration has announced that Tijuana’s FastLane program is being strengthened to protect residents from scams involving the sale of expedited crossing passes, commonly known as medical passes, through social media.
Tijuana’s Secretary of Economic Development, Pedro Montejo Peterson, warned that fraud has been detected on platforms such as Facebook, where these passes are advertised for sale. Victims report that after making payment, the sellers block them without delivering anything in return.
In a brief interview with San Diego Red, the official stated:
“We are identifying these situations so that we can act immediately as authorities. We are currently in the process of updating the system and implementing additional safeguards to prevent this from happening. This is an ongoing effort, because unfortunately in past administrations these situations occurred easily. Our goal is to combat this illegal trade, and we are taking immediate measures to do so.”
According to information published on the official SEDETI website, the passes are never sold through social media, and any program participant found engaging in this illicit activity will be permanently removed from the program.
The website also clarifies that the pass is valid for one single crossing through the FastLane booths during the established operating hours. Each pass remains valid for 48 hours from the time it is issued and is a personal courtesy granted to the visitor whose name appears on it.
If the information on the pass (such as license plate number or visitor’s name) does not match, booth personnel have the right to request a photo ID. The pass is not valid for the SENTRI lane.
FastLane Booth Hours
Medical and Tourist FastLane users
Cross-border students
