THE reason behind the hijacking of the Trans Guyana Airways (TGA) aircraft over the Rupununi last week remained a mystery yesterday but one of the suspected hijackers has claimed he was paid US$4,000 for his part in the job.

The Brasil Norte newspaper said an Uruguayan, arrested in Boa Vista, Brazil in connection with the crime, said he was paid US$4,000.

He admitted he was one of the four men who hijacked the plane at gunpoint, ordering pilot Zaul Ramotar to land in Brazil, Brasil Norte said.

Charge d'Affaires of the Brazilian Embassy here, Mr. Antonio Menezes translated the article in the Thursday edition of the newspaper during an interview with the Chronicle.

According to the newspaper, Brazilian authorities nabbed Roberto Golfaren Falero Mederos, 37, in Boa Vista, one week after he and the other foreign nationals hijacked the aircraft over the Rupununi savannahs.

Brazilian authorities are working feverishly to track down the others who are still at large, it said.

Mederos, who was previously convicted of drug trafficking in Portugal, reportedly said he was paid to go to the Roraima state of Brazil then to Lethem to hijack the plane.

The newspaper did not say what was the reason for the hijacking nor where the orders to Mederos came from.

Those still at large are two Colombians and a Brazilian, all said to be known to Brazilian federal authorities.

Boa Vista is the capital of Roraima which borders Guyana in the south.

The TGA 13-seater Cessna Caravan was forced to land in Brazil last week Wednesday when the four used masking tape to tie up other passengers.

The four stayed at the Takutu Guest House in Lethem the night before, checking in as Raimundo De Souza, Raimundo Pedro, Clovez Sauta and Ramon Torres.

Two of them reportedly spoke Portuguese, while the other two spoke Spanish (one of these spoke a little English).

They were among passengers on the TGA aircraft which left Lethem on the border with Brazil, for the Ogle Airstrip, East Coast Demerara.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot and other passengers were traumatised in the mid-air takeover. The pilot ordered to fly to Brazil in an ordeal that stretched for almost four hours.

Pilot Ramotar said he was held at gunpoint throughout the hijacking. He said he was ordered to fly according to coordinates the hijackers had.

When they reached the destination nothing much was at the location and he was ordered to land on an airstrip with a building close by.

The men disembarked except for one who was at the back and he replaced the other with the gun pointed at Ramotar, he said.

They scouted the area and probably realising that no one was coming to meet them, returned to the plane after about 20 minutes.

Ramotar said he was made to circle the area again, once they were in the air and one of the men, evidently unsure whether they had landed at the right place deliberated with the others before informing him to land at the same airstrip.

Once on the ground again, the pilot said they were allowed to leave the plane, were freed of the masking tape and assured that they will not be harmed.

He said the men nevertheless seemed reluctant to let them go. He said one of them returned to the plane where he rummaged for a while before returning with a shoulder bag, Ramotar's gun, which he said he might need, and the aircraft's radio set.

He felt that the men may have been afraid to let them go for fear that the Police may be alerted before they made their escape.

They were later allowed to leave and Ramotar said he checked the plane for signs of sabotage before takeoff.

No one was injured in the hijacking and the nine passengers and pilot arrived safely at the Ogle airstrip just before nightfall last week Wednesday.

The four apparently went into Lethem from Brazil and told immigration officials they were to fly to Ogle on their way to Suriname.

Brazilian Ambassador, Ney Do Prado Dieguez has said that according to reports, the men may have been trying to enter Venezuela.

Among those on board the Cessna were two officials of the World Bank, Mr. James Droop and Mr. Keith McLean; Parliamentarian, Ms. Shirley Melville; Mr. Paul Dhanraj; Canadians Mr. William Dilden, Mr. Donald McNabb and Mr. Robert Eric Foster, and British citizen, Mr. Barrie Burke.

Asked whether the man in custody will be extradited to stand trial here, Menezes said that was unlikely and will be a long process.

He explained that the crime was also committed in Brazil when the plane landed illegally in the country and persons were held hostage there by armed men.

He said that according to the Brazilian justice system, once a crime is committed in that country, those responsible will be tried there.

Mederos will probably appear in court next week, he said adding that the trial may follow in a few months.