Tourists Using ‘Pirate’ Taxis Hail Trouble

J.K. Symancyk concedes he was a bit naive when he arrived here from Little Rock, Ark., 13 months ago on a two-year business contract. No one warned him about Mexico City’s “pirate” taxis.

On one of his first evenings in town, he hailed a cab on the street. Overlooking the fact that the driver bore no resemblance to the 65-year-old man pictured on the taxi license attached to the visor, he hopped in. Before the ride ended, the driver pulled a knife and tried to rob him.

That was the first--but hardly the last--time the 25-year-old Arkansas native was victimized by rogue cab drivers here; he has scars on his cheek, wrist and back to prove it. It happened twice more in the months that followed. And a last armed robbery, in December, helped explain why he never bothered to report the assaults to the police.

When Symancyk finally was issued a company car and gave up on taxis, he was kidnapped from his driver’s seat at gunpoint by a man in a police uniform. He was driven around town for nearly eight hours in the trunk and forced to use his bank card to withdraw money from more than half a dozen cash machines before he fought his way to freedom.

But it is Symancyk’s experience with taxi robberies that is emblematic of a problem so widespread here that the U.S. State Department stepped in last week.

U.S. officials in Washington issued a public warning: “Due to the increasing frequency and violence of taxi robberies in Mexico City, the U.S. Embassy strongly advises Americans to use only taxis from authorized taxi stands at the airport and throughout the city. . . . Growing numbers of U.S. Embassy employees and tourists have been assaulted, abducted and robbed after hailing Volkswagen ‘Bug’ taxis and other cabs cruising the streets.”

The impact of the advisory was nearly as swift as the robberies themselves.

Mexico City’s government issued a formal protest. Thousands of taxi drivers staged a demonstration in the capital’s main square, and many of the 86,094 licensed taxi drivers who ply Mexico City’s streets--the overwhelming majority of them honest and, frequently, crime victims themselves--say the U.S. warning has cut deeply and unfairly into their business.

The advisory also wounded the legitimate drivers’ pride. For most, their cab is their castle, often decorated with religious icons, baby shoes or family pictures, and most are impeccably clean.

Yet none of those drivers denied the severity of the problem, which they and authorities stress is largely the work of organized gangs that steal taxis from legitimate drivers and use them to victimize Mexicans and foreigners alike. Those pirated taxis are often protected by corrupt police and public servants, many drivers say.

Despite the city’s protest to the State Department last week, which implied that the U.S. government overstated the danger in a city where an average of 1.3 million people take cabs each day, a city prosecutors office spokesman said that 2,215 passengers reported being assaulted or robbed by their drivers last year. That’s an average of six a day for a crime that authorities add is grossly underreported. The vast majority of victims were Mexicans.

The city government’s initial response to the U.S. warning stressed another statistic: Of the 6.5 million foreigners who visit Mexico City last year, only 165 of them reported a taxi assault in 1996.

As the taxi-theft controversy continued this week, though, several key law-enforcement officials took a more positive tack, briefing reporters on the steps they are taking to combat the crime.

“It’s a problem that is real, that exists, but that we are attacking,” Jose Elias Romero, a deputy city prosecutor, told a gathering of foreign journalists Wednesday.

He and other senior officials insisted that the number of such assaults is now decreasing. A special police operation launched in October, they said, brought taxi robberies of foreigners down 41% in the second half of 1996.

The officials agreed, however, that the U.S. advisory was appropriate. And businessman Symancyk is among the many American residents here who were gratified by it.

“There’s no question the overwhelming majority of taxi drivers here are honest, and I’m sorry if they’re being punished for this,” he said. “But the fact is, it’s a real problem. Every single friend I have in Mexico has had it happen to them one time or another.”

Symancyk, a powerfully built yet soft-spoken former semipro basketball player, said the robberies have taken a toll on his sense of security, but he plans to stay in Mexico City. And he does not want his experiences to discourage Americans from visiting the Mexican capital.

“I wouldn’t warn anyone away from coming to Mexico,” he said. “You just have to know at the front side that there are risks and steps you can take to protect yourself.

“Personally, I don’t want to leave because of fear. At one point, I almost did. . . . But for all I’ve learned and all the experience I’ve gained here, it’s been well worth it. I like Mexico. And when I go, I want it to be for the right reasons, not because I’m turning tail and running home.”