[coldtea]

"I've never ever encountered a cop who takes bribes but does not know how the system works.". It's not about now knowing how the system works, it's just not knowing what its going to happen.

The kid could easily be overlooked by the border guards since he had his passport, and it might have took extreme due diligence on their part to bother to look it up on the computer.

>Cops being happy to have some "criminal" around for getting drunk and they even pay? No, they rather take your money and get drunk with their friends.

If you travel in the right places and chance on the right people, the first can happen just as well.

Especially if you have to be in their company (custody etc) in the first place for a few days, it's some small place and you're seen as interesting talking material, and lots of other situations. Even bribe-taking officials are not one-sided hardened corrupted caricatures.