Mexico Trip: Are Supplements & Chinese Herbs allowed?
We’re traveling to Mexico for the first time in decades (Puerto Vallarta area) & need some advice.
If I travel w the wide variety of daily supplements and Chinese herbs that I take (none are narcotics nor are they prescribed), might I have trouble w immigration?
The quantity will be small, as they’re just for me and just for a week.
I need these supplements for digestion, stress and hormonal support among other reasons, so going w/o them (even for a week) would be challenging. BUT I definitely do NOT want any trouble w police, immigration, etc.
Please write in if you have any personal experience with this OR if you have resources that I should know about.
lastly, if you’ve been in a similar situation, did you keep the pills in their original bottles (bulky, from a packing standpoint) or in smaller, non-labeled containers?
Thank you!
Parent Replies
We went to Puerto Vallarta recently and go to Mexico at least once a year for vacation. I don't take Asian herbal medicine but I do bring all of the pills that I normally take with me. (prescription, non-prescription like zyrtec, anti-acids, digestion relief, motion sickness relief, pain killers, and supplements like vitamins, melatonin, elderberry/zinc/sambuca or similar immune boosting supplements, fish oil as well as probiotics). I also bring Arnaca or similar pain cream for sore muscles on some trips. I put the prescription in its original bottles and supplements in little zip log baggies. I carry them as a carry-on in case the luggage is lost. I have never been questioned even when I draw the red light and they inspect our bags. At the airport, you push a button and the light will randomly turn red or green. If you get red, you go to the customs officer so they can x-ray and inspect your luggage. If you turn green, you walk through and leave the airport.
I take several supplements (though no Chinese herbs) and have been to Mexico several times over the recent years and have never had a problem. I always put my vitamins, supplements, and medications in one bottle -- never, ever has it been looked at or questioned when traveling either domestically or internationally.
I brought a bunch of Chinese herbs with me to Cancun for a friend who I was meeting up with in Holbox. As luck would have it, this was the one time I get stopped by the customs officers. They inspected my things, found the herbs, inspected them and confiscated them. It wasn’t a big deal other than a waste of money my friend had spent in the herbs. All they did was say they weren’t allowed and gave me a notice documenting what was taken. They were polite and sent me on my way. It is a risk if you take them, but unlikely you’ll be in any “trouble” if found.