What to do if I am detained at a checkpoint for a crime in Mexico?
Have you ever heard of preventive controls? Which are better known as retainers. They are called preventive controls since, as its name indicates, it prevents incidents, such as crimes and accidents.
Unfortunately, society has very little information about what we can do in a preventive control and / or rights that we have in them. It is very common for society to be upset that someone is checking your car but you have to remember that they only do their job.
Where are my rights contemplated?
Political Constitution of the United Mexican States
Article 11. Everyone has the right to enter the Republic, leave it, travel through its territory and change residence, without the need for a security letter, passport, safe-conduct or other similar requirements.
Article 16. No one can be bothered in his person, family, domicile, papers or possessions, except by virtue of a written order from the competent authority, which establishes and motivates the legal cause of the procedure.
Accused a relative of a crime in Mexico? Do you need to know if it is a crime to bring weapons into Mexico? Do you need to know if it is a crime to bring marijuana into Mexico? The prosecutor is accusing me of having committed a crime that I did not commit? Has your loved one been in jail in Mexico for years?
If you are in one of these situations, hire an online consultation.
Article 20.- Section B. – Section I.- Of the rights of every accused person: I. To be presumed innocent until their responsibility is declared by means of a judgment issued by the judge in the case. (Presumption of innocence)
Article 21.- “The investigation of crimes corresponds to the Public Ministry and the police, which will act under the leadership and command of the former in the exercise of this function” (…) (Limitation to police officers to carry out investigation acts always and when they are monitored by the Public Ministry).
When are preventive controls allowed?
when there is an objective suspicion and not a mere assumption on the part of the military that in your vehicle or in your clothes you can carry an object that is the product of a crime, such as a weapon or drug.
We always recommend treating the military in a friendly way and asking what is the reason for which they will review you, it is not recommended to show yourself in a defiant or arrogant way to the officer since it can be misinterpreted.
This is the degree of contact that the military must make with you when stopping you at a checkpoint and trying to check you
A) Preventive to a lesser degree: police officers may temporarily limit the transit of people and / or vehicles in order to request information from the controlled person, for example, their identity, route, reasons for their presence, etc. In this preventive control of a lesser degree, police officers can also carry out a superficial visual inspection of the person or the interior of a vehicle. In this type of review, it is not necessary that there be a justification or reasoned suspicion that the person traveling in his vehicle is committing the crime, since it only seeks to guarantee the public safety of society when carrying out this type of minor interference.
B) Preventive in a higher degree: which is objectively motivated by proportional and reasonably suspicious behaviors, which implies that police officers are able to carry out a deeper search on the person and / or vehicles, in order to prevent any crime , as well as to safeguard the integrity and life of the agents themselves. In this case, they could also search people’s clothes, their belongings as well as the interior of the vehicles.
In this type of review, there must be a previous complaint or some reasonable indication that inside that vehicle or that person has probably committed a crime, a very common example may be that a Red Mazda vehicle with license plates in termination has been reported 756 has been stolen and a vehicle with characteristics similar to those mentioned passes through the military checkpoint, it is then under this assumption that the military will be able to inspect the vehicle, verify if it is indeed the same vehicle reported stolen.
What does the Supreme Court say about preventive controls?
“The purpose of provisional preventive controls is to avoid the commission of a crime, safeguard the integrity and life of police officers, or corroborate the identity of a person, based on information on crimes previously reported to the police or any authority”
Can officers detain me at a checkpoint?
Yes, if you are committing a crime or there is suspicion, using the preventive controls indicated above.
If you are arrested at a checkpoint for a crime and need help, we can help you!
We are specialists in federal and local criminal problems.
The Mexican criminal process explained in English
