I’ve been out of the country, visiting Ecuador and Peru for a little over two weeks.  I’ve got some great stories to tell in the next couple posts about the people and events I experienced.  In the meantime, let’s keep this post somewhat tied to courts and crime.  I’m sure all of you have been stopped by the police for something—speeding or worse—but here’s what happens with a police stop in a foreign country.

My wife and I had been up to Machu Picchu, marveled at the wonderful experience and views, and were ready to go back to the town of Cusco in Peru.  Unfortunately, there was a two-day labor strike and the only train (there are no roads into the valley) out on the only track out was stopped.  We finally got out to Cusco to find a plane had crashed on the only runway at the airport.  Our travel company routed us on an eleven-hour bus ride through the central high plateau of Peru.

Off we went with a bus full of people, two drivers, and an English-speaking guide.

The plateau rises between high mountain peaks and volcanoes.  Most of the area is arid, rocky, and doesn’t have a tree for miles except around the many streams that flow out of the mountains.  The paved road is straight, two-lane, and in good shape.  If you’ve ever driven across Nevada or Arizona, you will have an idea of how desolate this area was in Peru.

The second driver and our guide all sat on the floor of the front of the bus next to the driver who steered the bus.  We soon hit the first of many times we’d experience a police stop.  For us Americans on the bus, we didn’t think much about it.  The road block and seven armed police were probably just checking driver’s licenses or something—right?

But our Peru drivers thought differently.  They all became afraid and the two sitting on the floor scurried down the aisle and cowered near the back of the bus.  Once the driver stopped the bus, he pulled out a wad of crumpled papers and forms for the police stop.  He scrambled out of the bus with a worried look on his face and flapped the papers in the face of a stern cop, armed with an automatic rifle.

Two other officers from the police stop surrounded the bus and peered in the darkened windows.  The cop told the driver to open the luggage spaces on the sides of the bus.  He studied the driver’s papers.  Finally, he handed them back and waved the driver through.

What was going on?

Our Peruvian guide told us that we were lucky.  Quite often, the police would confiscate tourist’s property or at least shake them down for money.  I know this happens in many countries, but we were stopped a total of three times.  We never had to pay, but the driver may have given the cops something to get by the police stop.  I have to admit it was a little concerning out there in the middle of nowhere!

I’d forgotten what it was like to experience crooked cops.