Tinted Car Windows

[anthony f]

The September 26, 2005 San Diego Union Tribune on page B1 has an article entitled “Tijuana police target tinting of car glass.”

The article is old new to those who are familar with Tj. It begins by saying:

Tinted car window have a dark connotation in Tijuana, where members of organized crime gangs are known to drive around with pitch-black glass.
In an attempt to make it harder for criminals to operate anonymously, police have stated fining people who have darkened their windows “beyond normal” said the city’s director of public security…

He is also quoted as saying, “All the criminals use tinted glass…The city’s crackdown…applies to tourists and locals alike.” The article fails to state the reason, which is that many drug dealer live in the US and drive cars with US license plates. The article goes on to say this is not a new policy, but that it is now being enforced more vigorously.

So if your car has tinted windows or for some other reason isn’t street legal in Mexico, I recommend you leave it in the US when visiting Tijuana.