The law won

An innocuous U turn at an unmarked (no light, no signage)  intersection in downtown Maputo caught the attention of a nearby walking cop. The cop leapt into the road, palm showing and arm extended to grab our attention and pull us over. Perhaps mistakenly, we obliged (would he have really chased us on foot, aren't we above the law?).

The cop who pulled us over ended up not speaking enough English to communicate with us, and soon two other cops joined him at the scene. The cop with the best English walked Bodds away from the car and informed him that in order to keep his license we would need to pay a fine on the spot of 3000 medicles or roughly 100 dollars. At this early stage in our stay, we had about seven dollars worth of local currency to our name. Given the immediacy of the cash request and the dubious crime committed, (folks with local plates continued to perform the u turn as we negotiated) this reeked of a bribe

Bodds started the negotiating away from the vehicle-- I spotted his trouble and decided to join him. Under no circumstance would I leave the vehicle instructed otherwise in the US, but in a developing country with a reputation for corruption, I was soon at his side inserting myself into the conversation. I also considered bringing with me the 'bribery snacks' we had purchased in South Africa (snickers and cans of Lipton iced tea) and offering the cops a refreshing beverage. As it were, I approached empty handed but proceeded to throw out  a series of one liners quite inappropriate for a conversation with officers of the law. Some of Bodds and I's best material included:

(Following a statement that the officer would like visit New York)
Greg: well, I definitely won't give you a ticket in New York and ruin your vacation.

(Upon finally producing a US 20 dollar bill to pay the fine)
Bodds: (proudly) the US dollar, the finest currency in the world!

We ended up paying 27 dollars (all our Mozambique currency plus a 20 dollar bill) and leaving the scene. Next time our approach with be refined and I'll definitely be pushing our bribe snacks harder. There is no reason to leave the country with twelve Lipton iced teas. For the next souvenir guess the financial impact of our next run in with the law. Quantify your guess in Mozambique Medicles (30=1 dollar, Lipton iced teas, and stickers bars).

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