Mexican tries to hijack plane to reach US

The suspect claimed cartels had kidnapped his relative and threatened his family

A 31-year-old Mexican man tried to force a plane headed for Baja California to divert to the US, but was subdued by other passengers, according to the police.

Volaris flight 3041 was headed from Leon to Tijuana on Sunday when one of the passengers got up from his seat and tried to divert the flight by force. Other passengers wrestled him into submission and the crew diverted the plane to Guadalajara instead.

“Emergency assistance was provided to the airline, so the aircraft was able to land without incident at the Guadalajara International Airport and the passenger was detained,” the Mexican Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport said in a statement.

The suspect was identified as 31-year-old Mario N, police in Guadalajara told the media on Monday.

Así se vivieron los angustiantes momentos en el avión de Volaris que pretendía un hombre desviar de su curso hacia Estados Unidos.https://t.co/vexUAbTZmX pic.twitter.com/eOZKL8mbhz— Reporte Índigo (@Reporte_Indigo) December 8, 2024

According to the police, Mario said that a relative of his had been kidnapped and the abductors had sent him a message that he would be killed, along with his wife and two children, if he went to Tijuana.

A video filmed by one of the passengers and shared on social media showed Mario being subdued on board the aircraft. The struggle reportedly “caused his children to cry and his own wife to scold him,” according to Mexican media.

Mario is a resident of Penjamo in Guanuajuato, the state that has long had the highest number of homicides in all of Mexico. Two drug cartels, Jalisco and Santa Rosa de Lima, have been fighting a years-long turf war, marked by murders and kidnappings. According to police, Mexican cartels have long used hostages to force civilians to commit crimes on their behalf.

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Upon landing at Guadalajara Airport, the Mexican National Guard arrested Mario. He then struggled with the officers and caused the police car to crash, suffering unspecified injuries, according to local media. Flight 3041 was able to continue its journey to Tijuana after the incident.

Prior to Sunday’s incident, the most recent plane hijacking in Mexico involved a Bolivian national who took over an Aeromexico flight from Cancun to Mexico City in 2009. All 112 people on board were released unharmed when police stormed the Boeing after it landed.