Insurance shakedown in Colombia!
Just over a week ago, Dirty and i left Cartagena and proceeded south to Sincelejo. We encountered a police check, which was no big surprise. The police wanted to see our seguro (insurance). "No tengo seguro!" He took our licences and registrations and asked us to follow him to the "office". We drove for about 20km. to the next town and the bikes were impounded in a tireshop. The cop said when we produce the seguro, we can leave with the bikes. It was Sunday and nothing was open, so i started to argue, in a friendly way, that nobody told us at Aduana that we need the insurance, and that if you enter the country from the south, it´s not required! Why here? How much is it? $250!! No way! We can´t afford that! Why?? This went on for about 10 minutes, and in the end, 100,000 peso bought our freedom (about $25 each) Who said the policia in Colombia were´nt corrupt? So, my question is, what really are the rules about insurance in Colombia? And, if it is required, how much is it? We were warned by our customs agent this would happen, but only around Cartegena. Any other experiences like this?
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