JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – Motorists who cut in line at the international bridges between El Paso, Texas, and Juarez soon could face a $200-plus fine.
On Tuesday, the Public Safety Commission of the Juarez City Council recommended modifying the municipal traffic code establishing the misdemeanor offense. The plan calls for impounding vehicles from motorists who fail to pay the fine and providing discounts for prompt payment.
The ordinance stems from years-long frustration among Juarez and U.S. motorists with long wait times to cross from Juarez to El Paso, Texas, exacerbated by vehicles constantly cutting in line.
Juarez Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar said the ordinance is long overdue.
“We need to have it in the traffic code. I don’t think arrests are necessary – that would be excessive,” Perez Cuellar said at his weekly news conference on Monday. “People get upset when (others) commit abuses. The community supports (the ordinance), and I hope the council approves it.”
The wait to cross from Juarez to El Paso over the Paso del Norte International Bridge averaged 75 minutes throughout Tuesday afternoon. But that was just from the toll booths on the Mexican side to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection booths.
Waits on the Mexican access roads are often just as long, where most of the “cuttings in line” occur.
Juarez cracks down on clandestine dollar vendors
JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report)—Mexican officials are urging border shoppers to avoid unlicensed street dollar vendors as the holidays approach.
The warning comes after the arrest of a man holding a bag with a large amount of cash in the parking lot of a shopping center near the American consulate in Juarez.
Daniel Z.M., 39, faces money laundering charges concerning his Saturday arrest. Juarez Chamber of Commerce officials worry this may not be an isolated case with the holiday shopping season in full swing.
“The sale and purchase of dollars are a highly regulated activity intended to prevent money laundering and financing” terrorist activities, said chamber President Elizabeth Villalobos Luna. “I urge people to use only authorized money-exchange houses in a safe environment and without worrying about receiving counterfeit bills.”
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