Alleged hijackers of an Aeromexico plane are escorted handcuffed by police away from the plane on the tarmac at Mexico City's international airport. It was later determined one man was responsible.
Jose Flores, 44, of Bolivia, was arrested for the hijacking.
Mexican security forces transport passengers of a kidnapped Aeromexico flight
The Aeromexico aircraft that was hijacked sits iddle on the tarmac of Mexico City's airport
Mexican security forces board the highjacked Aeromexico flight
Bolivian priest Jose Mar FLores Pereira, hijacker of an Aeromexico airliner, is taken under arrest
Mexican security forces take into custody the alleged kidnappers of an Aeromexico flight
Military personnel surround a hijacked Aeromexico jet after it landed Wednesday in Mexico City.
Police arrested several suspects but later said there was only one hijacker
Mexican police have arrested a man who briefly hijacked a plane with 104 people on board, saying he wanted to warn Felipe Calderon, the president, of an impending earthquake.
Security forces stormed the plane with guns drawn on Wednesday and detained five suspects, but later said there was only one hijacker.A 44-year-old Bolivian drug addict and alcoholic who describes himself as a church minister was the sole person responsible for the brief hijacking Wednesday of a commercial jetliner, a Mexican official said.A Bolivian religious fanatic briefly hijacked a jetliner from the beach resort of Cancun as it landed in Mexico City on Wednesday, police said.A Bolivian priest who said he was acting on a divine revelation hijacked a Mexican plane mid-air Wednesday with 104 people on board triggering a brief airport drama, officials said.
Jose Flores, 44, later told police his three companions were "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
Flores hijacked Aeromexico Flight 576 after a divine revelation, according to Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna. Flores said Wednesday's date — 9-9-09 — is the satanic number 666 turned upside down.
Flores, speaking to reporters after he was detained, said he took control of the aircraft with "a juice can ... with some little lights I attached."
"Christ is coming soon," he added, smiling.
As the plane was landing, Flores stood up and showed his contraption to a flight attendant, Garcia Luna said.
He ordered the pilot to circle over Mexico City seven times, but the pilot, Ricardo Rios, said he didn't do that because the plane didn't have enough fuel. The hijacker also asked to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, saying he wanted to warn him of an impending earthquake, Garcia Luna said.
The suspect's wife, Elizabeth Melgar, told W Radio that Flores "always told me that he was looking for a way to attract the attention of the media ... he always told me that he was waiting for a signal from God to do something.
"Don't worry if they put me in jail," Melgar quoted him as saying. "(It will be) glory to God."
Garcia Luna said Flores is a drug addict who was convicted of armed robbery in Bolivia, and has lived in Mexico for 17 years. Flores described himself as a pastor in southern Oaxaca state who had gone to Cancun to preach.
He is also a Christian music singer who in videos posted on YouTube sings of leaving drugs and finding God. "I was in jail, I was a despicable drug addict, but Christ freed me a few years ago," he sings along with recorded music at a crowded stadium.
Mary Pereyra de Flores, the suspect's mother, told PAT television in his native Bolivia that "I knew that my son had this revelation a year ago, I knew he was going to try to talk to the president of Mexico."
She also said she knew that 9-9-09 date had significance. "There was a revelation for that date ... today there is a promise for the people of God and retribution for everything that the enemy has stolen."
In other videos, Flores, who goes by the stage name Josmar, is seen playing with nunchakus or shooting at a coin he tosses in the air.
No shots were fired and all passengers and crew were released unharmed, police said.
"The passengers are safe. There was no bomb," Juan Molinar, the transport minister, told Mexico's Televisa channel.
The alleged hijacker was said to be a former prisoner and drug addict, who has lived in Mexico for 17 years. But it was not immediately clear if he was helped by others amid reports that up to six people had been arrested.
All the people onboard the flight were safely evacuated at Mexico City, officials said, as security forces swarmed the capital's international airport within minutes of the plane landing.
Unconfirmed media reports claimed the hijackers, initially said to be three Bolivians, were carrying explosives.
But Transport Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas told local television there was no bomb on board.
"The government has control of the situation," he told local television shortly after the drama ended, adding all the passengers have been evacuated safely, there is no bomb on the plane."
"We intervened in this crisis and all the passengers were taken to safety. The security forces are now carrying out the necessary investigations," he added.
None of the hijackers had been able to enter the plane's cockpit during the flight, neither "were they able to compromise the aircraft's safety," he added.
"We only learned about it when we landed and we informed by the crew over the radio that we had been hijacked," said passenger Rodrigo Padilla. "Everything was very quiet, there were no guns, no shots were fired."
Marcos Ramirez, another passenger, said they were told "the hijackers had demanded to speak" with President Felipe Calderon, but gave no further details.
Airport spokesman Leonardo Sanchez told reporters "the threat had originated during the flight" and the hijackers had used "a small box wrapped in packing tape." Later security forces sweep the plane and found no explosive.
It was the first time the airline had suffered a hijacking since 1972, when leftist guerrillas seized one of its planes demanding the release of some of their fellow rebels. The release of the passengers was negotiated.
The last hijacking in the region was in April in Jamaica, when an armed man took over a CanJet Boeing 737 due to fly from Montego Bay to Cuba.
All 182 people on board were rescued unharmed when Jamaican police stormed the airliner and captured the mentally troubled gunman without firing a shot.
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