The truth about traffic tickets

I would never chose to drive in Oaxaca because it's too chaotic, but I finally understand how the ticketing works.  When you are stopped, you have the choice to pay your ticket immediately to the officer, or you can follow him to the station and pay there.  The first week we we were here, we noticed a car illegally parked near our restaurant.  We saw the officer walk over to the vehicle with a tool and he was bending over near the front bumper.  A few turns of a screw and up he came with the license plate.  We were told that the license plate was hauled it off to the station where the car owner would only retrieve it when he paid his fine.