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Canadian couple travelling in Mexico terrorized by armed bandits, vehicles stolen
The Canadian Press ^ | Apr 11, 2010 | Ciara Byrne,

Posted on 04/11/2010 10:03:13 PM PDT by george76

A Canadian couple held up by more than a dozen armed bandits while travelling through Mexico said the frightening experience was exacerbated by facing days of bureaucratic hurdles.

"Two minutes of terrorism and twelve days of legal terrorism,"

Vander Byl and his wife Michelle were spending their final day in Mexico, driving their pickup truck and trailer on March 26 along a road in Tamaulipas.

Vander Byl always assumed they'd be safe. He said there has always been an understanding between the bandits and the government to leave the tourists alone.

The vehicles were recovered two days later, but rigid bureaucratic rules prevented the couple from taking their truck and trailer home.

Vander Byl said the experience has been psychologically damaging. While they were in Mexico, his wife wasn't eating, or sleeping and she was crying all day. He only hopes the insurance will be able to cover some of the cost.

"It's been an awful nightmare. The holdup by the bandits was probably the smallest part of it."

After seven years of travelling to Mexico, Vander Byl said he likely won't return.

(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Mexico
KEYWORDS: canadian; mexico; organizedcrime; stayoutofmexico; terrorism
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1 posted on 04/11/2010 10:03:13 PM PDT by george76
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To: george76

Anyone who goes to Mexico is stupid. The place is a dangerous hellhole.


2 posted on 04/11/2010 10:04:37 PM PDT by Frantzie (McCain=Obama's friend. McCain called AMERICANS against amnesty - "racists")
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To: george76

Bandits are famous for honoring their agreements/s


3 posted on 04/11/2010 10:08:28 PM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: george76

The days of “Mexico” and “tourism” legitimately occurring in the same sentence should be WAAAAAYY over by now. People who go there and wind up ripped off or dead have only themselves to blame. It’s Rwanda 5 minutes from San Diego. No fixing it any time soon, either.


4 posted on 04/11/2010 10:11:05 PM PDT by TruthHound ("He who does not punish evil commands it to be done." --Leonardo da Vinci)
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To: george76
Vander Byl always assumed they'd be safe. He said there has always been an understanding between the bandits and the government to leave the tourists alone.

Prolly an Obama voter............ yeah, yeah, I know, he's from Canada.

5 posted on 04/11/2010 10:11:42 PM PDT by umgud (Obama is a failed experiment.)
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To: george76
Vander Byl always assumed they'd be safe.

Stupid. Now available in industrial strength.
6 posted on 04/11/2010 10:12:37 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: Frantzie

Me too. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to go to Acapulco, Cabo, et al.; this was long before the present problems with the drug cartels. No way. The only Spanish speaking country I would go to (actually go back to) is Spain.


7 posted on 04/11/2010 10:13:42 PM PDT by fatnotlazy (Never forget!)
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To: george76

Canadians are good people.....but just have that Liberal Globalist idea that all people and nations are good. It ain’t so

I feel bad for this couple....but anyone traveling to the Third World porta-potty called Mexico is taking a huge risk


8 posted on 04/11/2010 10:14:56 PM PDT by UCFRoadWarrior (JD Hayworth for Senate ..... jdforsenate.com)
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To: george76
Looks like they should have thought ahead and carried a duffel bag with heads in it.
9 posted on 04/11/2010 10:16:53 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken!)
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To: george76
After seven years of travelling to Mexico, Vander Byl said he likely won't return.

They are lucky to return to their home alive. Many tourists to Mexico have not been that fortunate.

10 posted on 04/11/2010 10:18:28 PM PDT by MamaDearest
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: george76
"He said officials in Mexico took him and his distraught wife through a maze of misinformation. They were required to provide copies of the Canadian-issued ownership for the truck and trailer."

"The couple were then told they would have to prove that the truck and trailer were legal to have in the country, and would have to go to the point of entry in Mexico and retrieve the original documentation allowing them into the country."

"Eventually, the couple gave up and abandoned their vehicle. They took the bus to Monterrey, where the Canadian consulate issued emergency passports and the couple left by plane, landing in Ottawa on April 8."

Looks like the bandits who stole their truck and camper
were the Mexican Government

12 posted on 04/11/2010 10:21:39 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: Frantzie

I grew up in South Texas and Mexico was dangerous twenty years ago when our family quit going there.


13 posted on 04/11/2010 10:24:34 PM PDT by El Laton Caliente (NRA Life Member & www.Gunsnet.net Moderator)
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To: SpaceBar
I have traveled around Mexico for years by car. In the old days the only thing that would happen bad was la mordita, which is a bribe and translates as “the bite.”
The mordita was not much and I really enjoyed traveling the country. I never felt unsafe until the last 10 years.

I am a white gringo and my wife is Mexican from Mexico and we are both bilingual. Today the only way we will go to Mexico is via plane and only to certain secure areas. Unfortunately those secure areas are where all the tourists go. We do not go there very much anymore. It is to damn dangerous!

14 posted on 04/11/2010 10:27:00 PM PDT by cpdiii (Roughneck, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, Iconoclast THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR.)
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To: george76

Some people are way, way beyond stupid, and that is meant specifically for, but not limited to, American citizens who venture into North Korea, Iran, Mexico, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and possibly China.


15 posted on 04/11/2010 10:28:41 PM PDT by matthew fuller (Regime Change- NOW!)
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To: george76
rigid bureaucratic

Yes, rigid rules called Mordida. (the Bite)

16 posted on 04/11/2010 10:30:44 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.)
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To: matthew fuller

I forgot to mention Venezuela, Cuba, Columbia and Massachussetts.


17 posted on 04/11/2010 10:31:02 PM PDT by matthew fuller (Regime Change- NOW!)
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To: matthew fuller

John McCain is trying his best to add Arizona to that list.


18 posted on 04/11/2010 11:18:06 PM PDT by Irish Eyes
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To: Irish Eyes
"John McCain is trying his best to add Arizona to that list. "

I don't think that he's gonna matter much after next Nov/Jan.

19 posted on 04/11/2010 11:25:29 PM PDT by matthew fuller (Regime Change- NOW!)
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To: matthew fuller

From your lips (keyboard) to God’s ears.


20 posted on 04/11/2010 11:44:35 PM PDT by Irish Eyes
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