Baja California’s state legislature on Thursday called on the Attorney General’s office and all seven municipal governments to stop charging vehicle theft victims fees when they recover their stolen cars.
The proposal, introduced by Morena lawmaker Maythé Méndez, would waive towing, impound storage, and administrative processing charges for any vehicle owner who presents a police theft report (denuncia) when picking up a recovered vehicle. The measure was approved as a formal legislative call (exhorto) directed at the Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), the state prosecutor’s office, and the municipalities of Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, Tecate, Rosarito, San Quintín, and San Felipe.
Existing Law Already Prohibits the Charges
Méndez argued that current Baja California law already prohibits these fees. The problem, she said, is enforcement. Victims of vehicle theft who manage to have their cars located by police still face bills at impound lots before they can drive home. Towing and daily storage fees at municipal impound yards can add up quickly, turning crime victims into paying customers of the same government agencies that should be helping them.
The exhorto is not new legislation. It is a formal request from the legislature urging the FGE and municipal governments to comply with rules already on the books. That distinction matters: the call carries political weight but no legal penalty for noncompliance.
Overlapping Bureaucracies Complicate Recovery
One of the key obstacles for theft victims has been navigating overlapping jurisdictions. A car stolen in one municipality may be recovered in another, or it may end up in a state impound lot rather than a municipal one. The FGE handles the criminal investigation, but municipalities typically control the impound yards. Méndez’s proposal specifically requires the state and municipal governments to share information and align their procedures so that victims face a single, coordinated process.
The U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana operates a Vehicle Recovery Unit that helps American citizens recover cars stolen in the United States and found in Mexico. That office works as a liaison with the FGE but has no role in vehicles stolen within Mexico itself. For U.S. citizens and other foreign residents who own Mexican-plated vehicles, the recovery process after a theft falls entirely under state and municipal jurisdiction.
Vehicle theft remains one of the most common property crimes across Baja California, affecting residents in Mexicali, Tijuana, and smaller cities alike. If municipal and state authorities follow through on the legislature’s request, victims would no longer pay out of pocket to reclaim their own property.
The story was first reported by Punto Norte.