I’m a med student co-leading a medical mission trip to Mexico from Florida during our Spring Break 2009, and I don’t know what’s the best, most surefire way to get suitcases of meds from here thru customs at Cancun or Merida Airport to Merida, Mexico, as cheap as possible? Should I look into sending the meds in advance by FedEx, UPS, or USPS, or is there a full-proof procedure to get clearance from Customs so we can get the meds thru Customs at Merida or Cancun Airport (we failed to get such clearance last year, when they confiscated all our bags of meds cuz they thought we could sell them to people when in reality we were giving them to the poor Mexican people who needed them). We work with a mexican medical school called UADY (Universidad Autonima de Yucatan) in Merida, so some have told me that we should pay a $200 more/person for a few people to fly them directly to Merida with the meds cuz they might be less strict and there are more connections than at Cancun Airport, but I still don’t think this ensures Mexican Customs agents will let us through with these meds. Anyone have any experience with medical mission trips or know people who do and could help me out cuz this problem is really stressin me out — I can’t buy airline tickets for 20 med and pharm students in my mission trip group til I find out the best way to get the meds into Mexico.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate your time and help!
Raj

I think your best resource for info might be another medical mission group that has experience. See the 2 links below. Just pick a couple of them and call them. Those that have experience with this could share their knowledge. Hope all works out well for you.