A taxi robbery generally works something like this: The victim or
victims get into a taxi, usually a green VW beetle taxi. After a few
blocks, the taxi stops, and one or two armed men enter the taxi and
rob the victim. In many cases, the victim is held for hours while the
robbers use the victim's ATM card to get more money. This is
sometimes called an "express" kidnapping. In a few cases, the victim
is held overnight to allow withdrawing more money the next day. The
taxi driver is part of the gang, and may have stolen the taxi. In
some cases, a waiter or hotel employee may also be part of the gang.

This particular paragraph sounds very implausible to me. VW beetles are
very small vehicles with no back doors. Because of this simple fact, you
will always see a single passenger riding 'shotgun' in the front seat, and
only additional passengers sit in the back. How exactly would this allow
'one or two armed men' to enter the cab in the first place. If taxi crime
is your biggest worry, then don't take taxis at all. You can get abolutely
anywhere in the city just as fast by bus, and bus rides range in cost from
2.5 to 5 pesos, so half a buck max. Faster yet is the Metro, and it's huge,
though it doesn't cover a lot of spots away from downtown that would
interest a tourist.

Don't worry. I'm sure you'll learn to love the place just during the ride
in from the airport. The city is gorgeous, with wide streets, tons of shade
trees, and beautiful things everywhere. Just be careful crossing streets
where they meet at odd angles, because your 'walk' light won't mean much to
a driver who also has a green light.

Keith