By Juan Montoya
Shades of Prohibition!
This Christmas season, the Mexican federal government has ruled that it will levy a 100 percent tax on U.S. whiskey to border residents in Tamaulipas.
The levy will not affect those who live outside the border area, including those who live in Victoria, the state's capital.
According to Mexican media, a tax of 99.32 percent will belevied on a bottle costing $32, increasing the price to a Matamoros buyer to $70.
Current Mexican customs law dictates these tariffs be applied , said supervisor Karla Ballesteros. Before her, the former director – Jorge Daniel Castro Acedo – had allowed three liters of whiskey and six liters of table wine without any added taxes. Ballesteros told Mexican dailies that she was merely following the guidebook on the taxes that had been issued by the federal government in Mexico City.
She said she was following the orders of current Matamoros customs director Juan Ramon Huerta Leon, who was reportedly out of the city and unavailable for comment.
The law will not apply to U.S. citizens or those in transit between the United States and points further south.
Already, more customs agents have been assigned to the bridges to enforce the new dictum of the director.
She warned that all customs agents have been instructed on the new interpretation of the law and will not allow Matamoros residents to introduce whiskey as contraband. She further warned that anyone caught with contraband whiskey will be assessed the new taxes and will be subject to a stiff fine.
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