12. Border Crossing - entering Panama

DISCLOSURE - as with post #11, this is Craig's post from his blog.

As we cross the border, we are motioned to the side by men with official-looking I.D. tags. These are the Ayudantes (helpers) who either assist you in crossing borders by expediting the process (usually involving bribes) or by creating a chaotic situation from which only they can extricate you. After parking the car, I tell them that I do not need any help, but thanks anyway. I have prepped for this border and know the proper sequence: first, acquire auto insurance. Done. second, get immigration to stamp your entry into your passport. Done. third, get the T.I.P. for the car from customs. So far, so good! Completed application...now for the car inspection. I open the rear door, and the customs agent tells me EVERYTHING must be taken out of the car and run through the scanner on the other side of the building. This is not going well...

As a crowd of Ayudantes gather around, the customs agent asks if I would like help transporting the entire contents of the car to the scanner and back. Things are beginning to smell a little "fishy" here. Undeterred, I insist upon transporting everything myself while Karen guards the car. After first moving two large suitcases to the scanning area, a more senior customs agent comes over and requests that we complete the Panama customs declaration forms. After completing mine, he reviews it, makes some corrections (suggesting I don't really have to list every edible fruit and foodstuffs in our possession) and asks me to complete the form again with corrections. At this point, he can sense my frustration. I comply, and then we move into the scanning area. After scanning the two suitcases, he tells me I only need to bring in duffel bags and the like. I ask him to accompany me to the car and point out the pieces he would like to scan. He grabs a couple of bags, and we go scan them. As we move back to the car, he tells the original agent (a lower ranking one) that we are done since I only have foodstuffs, supplies, and personal use items. A brief argument ensues between the two, and the junior official is overruled. Seeing his potential cut from the Ayudantes who might be asked to help me transport everything vanish, he sulks away and glares at me from a distance as I rearrange our gear. The senior agent signs off on my T.I.P. The last steps are paying $1 to fumigate the car and then passing through the final immigration checkpoint set up by Panamanian Marines. Bienvenidos a Panama (welcome to Panama)!

The way the "border mafias" work, as best I can determine, are as follows:

1) Identify potential victims who appear to have money (We are travelling in a 2019 Toyota 4runner TRD Pro).
2) The Ayudantes (helpers???) immediately overwhelm you with offers of their services to expedite your border crossing. They do this by offering bribes to the immigration and customs agents which you end up paying for...and in addition, the fee for the Ayudante's services.

OR, as in my case here, my refusal to engage with the Ayudantes MAY have led to the lower ranking customs agent demanding that we scan everything in the car, thereby making the Ayudantes eventual engagement and his probable cut of the proceeds more likely.

They get you either way...but by "sticking to my guns" and insisting on doing everything myself, we gained the upper hand this time!Read more