Venezuela and it's corrupt police

Hi all,

I just want to let you know that I have entered Venezuela safely. But not without problems.

I got up at 5.30am this morning, and caught the 6am bus out of Bucaramanga. The journey to the border was uneventful. I arrive at the border at 12pm, but then getting out of Colombian immigration was a 2 1/2 hours wait. It took forever, so I was glad to have eaten lunch beforehand.

I finally made it into the Venezuela border at 3.30pm, I was running behind time already, as I had another 8 1/2 hours bus rides (and needing to change bus midway) ahead of me.

Everything was fine, until my van got pulled over at the police check point leaving town. The police picked on me as soon as I came out. Demanding my backpacks to be x-rayed and searched. The fact that my backpacks was x-rayed at the border didn't seem to satisfy them. The police woman that scrutinize my passport was very rude, but as I later discover, at least honest. Because afterwards, her and a young male colleague went through my backpack and daypack. They were very thorough, pulling out every bit of item from both packs. All my clothes were search, my books opened, my toilet bag, medical bag, pill box, pencil case was scrutinized.

I notice only my items were all pulled out, and thrown on the counter like junk. Where-as the locals only had their bags quickly look through.

Then I notice the young police man was eye-ing my iPod, asking me what it was, and then pulling it out to play with it on two occasion. At first I thought it was curiosity and a touch of childishness (boyz toyz and all!), but then...

The lady finished with her search and left my contents in a mess, and I had the task of putting everything back. I was feeling pretty angry at the way my possession were thrown out, not in any order, nor were there any help given in putting them back. Never had I seen such rudeness or carelessness.

So I pack everything away in my backpack, whilst eye-ing the young policeman wearily, as he was *still* looking through my now thoroughly searched daypack.

He then told me I had to be body search. I started to panic, as I remember the owner of the guesthouse I stayed at in San Gil telling me that they are after money. I said "No no no", but he said this is standard procedure. I didn't have a choice anyway so I was taken into a private room.

Inside the room, he first told me to hand all my possessions in my pants over. So there goes my wallet. But afterwards he wanted me to drop my pants for the money belt that he knew was there. I resisted of course! But he would not hear of it. He then went through the contents, and started pulling out my USDs (US Dollars). I was really shitting myself then.

I know there are no official rules in which foreigners are not allow to bring USDs into the country. But I also know the official exchange rate for 1 USD = 2060 Venezuelan Bolivians, whilst in the black market un-official rate is up to 6000 Bolivians. Almost 3 times as much!

So I started demanding my money back. In fact, I pulled the dollars out of his hands, and place them back into my money belt, whilst talking rapidly and loudly to him about this being my first day in Venezuela, that NZ has no problems with Venezuela, that the USDs are for my travels in all of South America, and that my friends had warn me about policemen taking people's money away. Of course I don't think he understood half of what I was trying to say, I was panic-ing and speaking Spanglish. He was trying to get me to pay him off, whilst trying to hush me with his finger to his lips. He kept gesturing towards the money and speaking rapidly in Spanish but I could not understand him. Maybe not speaking too much Spanish may have helped me in this sticky situation.

As after putting my clothes back on, and storing my money belt away I basically took my chance and walked out the room. I pretended to check to see if my van was still waiting outside. He told me to wait, and spoke to whom I thought was his senior officer, he was whispering to the guy as if saying "This guy is loaded with USDs!" and what seem to me to be like working out a bargain between them to get my money. I look on pleadingly. The senior officer - God bless him, must have said something like "Let him go.", as the next moment he was nodding towards me. I took that as a sign and fled to the van with my backpack and daypack.

I am still shaking from this whole experience which only happened 3 hours ago, and cannot stop rewinding in my head what could have had happen. Never in any of my previous travels have I encountered such corrupted police. And I am praying that I do not meet any more such people.