Trouble at PP airport...

Next time in town, go to the POP airport, go to the 2nd floor offices and find out who is charge (his boss), introduce yourself in a very friendly manner, explain to him that you have a problem, tell him the story, without acting angry, tell him that his man may think you're a wanted criminal and that you would simply like to clear it up, show him your passport, let him check up on you, be patient and friendly with chit chat if you can. Once you are cleared, ask him for a solution, like a document from his boss that gives you clear passage or if the employee is available, he might call him in and clear it up.

I got some question for you? are you using a dr passport or other country? Your getting harrassed leaving the country and re entering. has customs ever run your passport or name through immigration or interpol computer?

The other question is why don't you just carry another piece of ID such as driver's license. It really is his right to ask for another piece of ID if he feels your passport may be altered (granted he can probably tell that you're american and he probably just doesn't like you, but why give him an excuse to take you to the room?)

suarezn said:

The other question is why don't you just carry another piece of ID such as driver's license.

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That sounds like the simplest solution.

Because he knows you do not have any connections

The thing that does alot of these tigres in is them being macho. He thought (and now he knows) that you know nobody. He called you out, you blinked and now he thinks he owns you.

I am sorry about your experience, take some advice and take initutive on the 2nd floor or simply keep getting harrassed or keep traveling to STI.

Sorry

Berzin said:

Exactly how did I blink? Not one person ever(even the guy in the room I was taken to, the guy who looked like a third-world dictator with his Captain Crunch uniform)) ever told me what they were looking for when examining my passport. And its' not like I started crying like some bitch.

And the reason I do not carry any other ID is because I do not want to lose it in a third world country when legally all I need is a passport. And why carry an important document when I really don't need it? Also, the other people they pulled off the plane right along with me had ALL TYPES of other ID and it did THEM no good whatsoever.

The fact that I still got on my flights is proof that he OWNS me? Please.

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I did not intend to ruffle your feathers, it is a phrase and in no way a challenege to your ego. "He" underestimated you because he thought you were just a tourist and he played the odds. The point at hand was that it is a horrible experience of what you went through but were able to win out by getting on this plane. Did you get "Captain Crunch's" name? If you did this it can then serve everyone a good service and possbly have Capt. Crunch soaked in milk ;-)

Regards!

Berzin said:

Exactly how did I blink? Not one person ever(even the guy in the room I was taken to, the guy who looked like a third-world dictator with his Captain Crunch uniform)) ever told me what they were looking for when examining my passport. And its' not like I started crying like some bitch.

And the reason I do not carry any other ID is because I do not want to lose it in a third world country when legally all I need is a passport. And why carry an important document when I really don't need it? Also, the other people they pulled off the plane right along with me had ALL TYPES of other ID and it did THEM no good whatsoever.

The fact that I still got on my flights is proof that he OWNS me? Please.

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Berzin,


I see what you're saying...............and you SHOULD protest your bad treatment.


But in the end I think that it would be easier for you if you carried a second peice of ID.

For myself personally....I like to rent cars when I'm in the DR so I still need my U.S. drivers liscense anyway. Secondly, I'm not white and look Dominican...so many times they don't believe that I'm American at first so the second piece of ID comes in handy until the start recognizing my face as a regular visitor.

As for your fear of loosing your second piece of ID in a 3rd world country, I think that this is being a little too paranoid...because using this logic you wouldn't be able to carry any type of sensitive documents with you out of fear of "loosing them."

...just suck it up and carry your drivers liscense like most of us do.


Happy travels.

Dominican Trash...

Berzin said:

...What this guy is looking for I cannot for the life of me figure out.

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A bribe.

-Helpmann

Pirates in the Caribbean

There are a lot of stories on TV lately about Pirates, in the Caribbean no less. And it seems to me that like they used to set up shop in different ports to collect from those arriving on ships. When they weren't out pillaging in their own ships. That was their living ...
So these Bucaneers are lining up at the different ports in the Dominican Republic to collect their booty from those arriving and leaving on air ships.
Not a lot seems to have changed since those days.
Except maybe, that Americans now have booty to give.
A booty call in every industry. Aargh!
mkohn
irate: irate: irate:

Capt Crunch

Berzin said:

I apologize for overreacting, Scotty. But I've been told on this post to carry my drivers' license and it certainly did'nt stop the others that were pulled off the flight from getting the same treatment. Also, to board any international flight all I need is my passport. To pull me off a plane because I have no other ID is not legal, not that that matters in the DR.

And as for homeboy wanting a bribe? He seemed like too much of a hard-ass. I just did'nt get the feeling that that was his intention.

And the other point is if the passport has been stamped with all the other countries I've been to including the DR about 6 times, what could be the issue?

But I will follow the advice given to me and carry my license. I will also pay a visit to the airport office on the second floor and have a little chat with the good Captain Crunch about his employees.
Should I bring a gift?

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I was in the same boat as you. I posted several times about myself being stopped about 6 years ago. It was one time in particular much the same as you. I was detained, placed in an office with a group of other tourists. When I whipped out (the then commanding general of the F.A.D.) General Garcia's card I was moved to another room but neverless I wasn't released. Instead I was provided a glimpse at who was behind all of this, an attractive white skinned Dominican woman who was a jefe in immigration. Instead of this idiot woman respecting the fact that I had an official card fully endorsed by the general himself (not just a flimsy business card mind you) she scoffed at me "that all you gringos know someone" and that the idea of me using General Garcia's card was (in her words) "sh*t". Arrogant isn't the word to describe this woman's demeanor, she was downright hostile. She claimed that people like myself (I am a corrections officer in NY) "brutalize Dominicans in New York and (we) should be punished". I asked her "what the heck does that have to do with you stopping me for unpaid taxes which I do not owe, the fact that you threw the general's card in my face and you not releasing me?" She walked out and this was when I made a phone call to General Garcia himself. I then sat back and waited for the F.A.D. to come and "rescue" me. I was able to enjoy seeing this woman being led away protesting that she knows people in Santo Domingo and blah blah blah, "bye bye chica mafiosa" I said as I was escorted to the gate by a colonel.

These people play the numbers. There are thousands upon thousands of tourists that pour down here every year that DO NOT know anyone. The odds are indeed in their favor and this is one of the many reasons they get away with what they do.

Glad you are ok with this, please keep coming down and stay safe!

Si....

Berzin said:

I apologize for overreacting, Scotty. But I've been told on this post to carry my drivers' license and it certainly did'nt stop the others that were pulled off the flight from getting the same treatment. Also, to board any international flight all I need is my passport. To pull me off a plane because I have no other ID is not legal, not that that matters in the DR.

And as for homeboy wanting a bribe? He seemed like too much of a hard-ass. I just didn't get the feeling that that was his intention.

And the other point is if the passport has been stamped with all the other countries I've been to including the DR about 6 times, what could be the issue?

But I will follow the advice given to me and carry my license. I will also pay a visit to the airport office on the second floor and have a little chat with the good Captain Crunch about his employees.
Should I bring a gift?

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You do that and it will save you a lot of frustration.

Bring no gift for Captain Crunch but put a few hundred pesos in your front pocket just in case.

Let me tell you what I think happened to to the guy "pesting" you, it's simple:

You hurt his "pride", believe it or not, when you did not offered him a bribe the first time he spoke to you.

ALL those morons think that they are doing you a favor by scanning and stamping your passport and therefore it's your duty to give them a little 'something something".

I posted a long time ago, here(I think since I have so many episodes with these insects), about me leaving SD and one of then asking me for a bribe and me telling him no. I guess that I hurt his little pride because the next thing that came out of his mouth was, "vete a esa oficina, veo que tu tienes inpedimento de salida" (go to that office, I see that someone is stopping you from leaving the country). He said it in such a manner, like dismissing me like a little kid that the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "mira comemierda, you treat me with respect if you want to be treated the same way. I just wanted him to show me where did it say that I had "impedimento de salida". He would not and kept on waiving his hands for me to move away. I made such a big fuss (not yelling, just talking very sternly) that they thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown and they had the Airport's Doctor at "the office" waiting for me.

When the Doctor saw me and I saw him, we just started laughing like 2 teenagers. The Doctor, at the time, was my uncle "Antonio" who had been at the airport for what it seems like 75 years and who reminded "Captain Crunch" about my relative who used to sign HIS paychecks!.

Guess what, no impedimento de salida, no bribe given, he was called to the office and was spoken to like a little kid (many curses thrown at him) and I believe was suspended for a month without pay!. Not bad for not letting things go.

They think that they have some sort of power and that you can not question their decisions or that they should not be turned down when they ask for a bribe. Worse yet, they think that the moment you pass them the passport, when they open that passport, a few dollars SHOULD be on the first page.

Btw, the nicest you are to them, the more conversation you have with them, the friendlier you look, the less you make eye contact with them, the more of an easy target you will look like.

Just be yourself. Say what you MUST. A simple "hola" is enough. ERASE that friendly smile off your face(smile at them only AFTER they had given you your passport back and are on your way to your gate). Look at them straight to their eyes with a stern look. Don't act nervous and remember that they are there for one thing only, to scan your passport and nothing more!. If they give you "hell" DO NOT hesitate to grab a pen and paper and in front of him/her, write his/her name and ID number and DEMAND to speak to their supervisor. If you have not done anything wrong, he/she will get scared and will let you go. Works like a charm!.

Nothing wrong in voicing your opinions and demanding to be treated with respect!. Again, if you ahve not done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about!.

Berzin said:

Should I bring a gift?

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No gift necessary.
If your Spanish is not up to par, I might accompany you.

How common is this?

I haven't been to DR in maybe 18 months. But for a period of almost three years, I was coming down to POP for a week or two almost every month.

I am American and during the entire entry and departure process, I was only asked for a "regalo" once by a luggage inspector who quite obviously was half drunk. I said " I come here all the time and I have never paid anyone anything." and continued out the door with no problem.

I never was questioned by any agent or even remotely "threatened" in a manner similar to what's recounted by the OP.

The wild card in all this is that I am huge--therefore I am either easily remembered and should be a target, or the macho stuff gets diluted when they have to crane their necks to look up at me and lean around to look past me.

I continue to plan for the day when I come there to live most of the time and I am always disturbed to read stories like this--not to mention the crime wave stuff.

I am just wondering what I am doing right or does size matter?

Size does matter

abe said:

I haven't been to DR in maybe 18 months. But for a period of almost three years, I was coming down to POP for a week or two almost every month.

I am American and during the entire entry and departure process, I was only asked for a "regalo" once by a luggage inspector who quite obviously was half drunk. I said " I come here all the time and I have never paid anyone anything." and continued out the door with no problem.

I never was questioned by any agent or even remotely "threatened" in a manner similar to what's recounted by the OP.

The wild card in all this is that I am huge--therefore I am either easily remembered and should be a target, or the macho stuff gets diluted when they have to crane their necks to look up at me and lean around to look past me.

I continue to plan for the day when I come there to live most of the time and I am always disturbed to read stories like this--not to mention the crime wave stuff.

I am just wondering what I am doing right or does size matter?

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On the road that is, the bigger the vehicle the more right of way they have.

Your physical size doesn't intimidate anyone especially these clowns as they carry guns and are not afraid to use them. Consider yourself forunate that you haven't been harrassed. It's not as bad as everyone (including myself) write in these posts. We are simply responding to posters, sharing our experiences with others that have also had experiences with Immigration, Customs, CESA, PN, AMET etc.

As you written, try being friendly with some of the officials in the airport. Chit chat here, hola there, a nod of acknowledgement goes a long way. They will get to know you and yes, surely they will even ask you for a gift. I had an F.A.D. officer come up to me as I sat at the gate waiting for my flight. He must have seen me walking through the airport and came looking for me. I know him well (more then 10 years ever since he was a sergeant working at the base) and he certainly knows I am friends with his superior officers. But he still quietly asked me for a few pesos. I slipped it to him, he gave me a hug and left.

Sometimes, just leave yourself a few loose pesos for those people you become friendly with. It won't kill you to part with two or three dollars upon your entry or exit. It is the ones that throw their power around trying to scare people with their brutish tactics of missing flights and going to jail. These people crossed the line and should be reported.

Thanks a lot. I have been to a lot of off the beaten path places in the world and tend to believe that you get back what you give out. That has its limits though, I realize.

I continue to believe in the inherent goodness of the Dominican people. I have always brought gifts (a sack of baseballs goes a long way) and always treat everyone respectfully. I discuss prices quite specifically before engaging anyone--taxis that is--I haven't indulged in the "other" commerce, though will probably weaken one day.

I understand what you are saying about little gifts and always walk directly from the exit of POP toward the police at the taxi queue, carrying my own bags, and tip the policeman for finding me a taxi. I am sure it makes no difference and I get the same cab I would have gotten by myself, but I do figure I should get the guy in the uniform on my side.

Finally, I agree that size probably doesn't matter very much--I haven't mastered the bullet-proof part yet.

Hasta pronto.

Nice post Abe

abe said:

Thanks a lot. I have been to a lot of off the beaten path places in the world and tend to believe that you get back what you give out. That has its limits though, I realize.

I continue to believe in the inherent goodness of the Dominican people. I have always brought gifts (a sack of baseballs goes a long way) and always treat everyone respectfully. I discuss prices quite specifically before engaging anyone--taxis that is--I haven't indulged in the "other" commerce, though will probably weaken one day.

I understand what you are saying about little gifts and always walk directly from the exit of POP toward the police at the taxi queue, carrying my own bags, and tip the policeman for finding me a taxi. I am sure it makes no difference and I get the same cab I would have gotten by myself, but I do figure I should get the guy in the uniform on my side.

Finally, I agree that size probably doesn't matter very much--I haven't mastered the bullet-proof part yet.

Hasta pronto.

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See? You really are a gentle giant. Years ago there was a friend and fellow officer. He was 6'9" and nearly 400 lbs, he loved the DR as he was accepted as being a big teddy bear of a guy. He passed away some years ago but had always said that the DR brought him down to the size of the little people. The DR made him happy.

However, people that come down here thinking they are tough guys will soon find that whoever they are or whatever they think they are don't mean doodly squat to these guys.

Come to enjoy and joy will come to you!

I don't know what the big fuss is in making friends with dominicans? I have had my friend arrested in both POP and recently sti airport. It has come to a point where my friend is getting sick of my games. I simply make friends with the authority at the airport and then ask them to arrest my incoming friend and give him hard time untill he breaks. then they tell him that it was me. The last time I did that (last wednesday) I got a hard punch on my shoulder by my ****ed off friend. Its so easy to make friends with domincian authority so I am dumbfounded to see that so many people actually have problems with them. Maybe some people just take things too seriously and argue with them. next time simply make a joke and make them laugh. it will solve all your problems.
AZB