Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Mexican police stormed an airplane hijacked by a Bolivian man who claimed he was driven by “divine revelation,” ending a standoff more than an hour after the Aeromexico jet landed at Mexico City’s international airport.

The crew members and 104 passengers on the flight from Cancun to Mexico City were released unharmed after yesterday’s incident.

The hijacker, who authorities identified as Jose Marc Flores Pereira and is also known as Josmar Flores, threatened to blow up the plane and sought a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. No explosives were found and Flores didn’t breach the cockpit door, Public Safety Minister Genaro Garcia Luna said at a news conference.

“He is a reverend,” Garcia Luna said. “He said it was a divine revelation that drove him to this action.”

Flores was taken away from the plane in handcuffs along with other people on the plane who were released after authorities determined they weren’t involved in the hijacking.

Flores has lived in Mexico for 17 years, Garcia Luna said. Flores told authorities he was an alcoholic and drug addict.

The hijacker was wearing jeans and a white shirt when he was paraded in front of reporters after his arrest and appeared to be smiling and chewing gum. He took action because yesterday’s date, Sept. 9, 2009, represented an upside-down 666.

“The reverend indicated that was a threat to the country,” Garcia Luna said. “So he wanted to take control of the airplane.”

Earthquake Concerns

The suspect demanded the aircraft circle the capital seven times, Garcia Luna said. The pilot landed without acceding to his demands because the plane was low on fuel. Flores said there was a threat of an earthquake and demanded to speak with Calderon.

Flores is a born-again Christian who had been on the verge of suicide. He spent time in jail in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for armed robbery, Garcia Luna said.

Flores threatened the crew from Aeromexico flight 576 with a fake bomb made from a red light affixed to three cans of hummus about an hour after takeoff from Cancun, Garcia Luna said. The pilot told the authorities and later acted as interlocutor between Flores and officials once the plane landed in Mexico City at about 1:40 p.m. local time.

“The important thing at this moment is that all the passengers are safe,” Transportation Minister Juan Molinar Horcasitas said in an interview with Televisa. The TV station showed a security official testing a small pile of luggage for explosives.

Passengers’ Released

After the plane landed, people remained on the plane for about 45 minutes before being released, according to a passenger who spoke on TV Azteca. Mexican, French, U.S. and Canadian nationals were on the flight.

Passengers didn’t realize anything was amiss until the plane landed and was taken to a remote area of the airport where it was surrounded by emergency vehicles, said Andrea Widdicombe, a 22-year-old Canadian.

“I was trying to get a hold of my friends,” Widdicombe said. “They weren’t telling us anything. It made us nervous.”

Garcia Luna defended police for handcuffing at least six other passengers, saying they had to make sure there were no suspects trying to pass themselves off as passengers.

Hernan Villatoro, a federal congressman and passenger who was ordered to the ground and handcuffed by police, was angry at his treatment. Villatoro told Milenio television he was taken away along with Flores and other male passengers even after he had identified himself as a lawmaker.

“I insist that this was a violation of individual rights,” Villatoro said. “They don’t have any right to treat us like that.”

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB, operator of Mexico’s Cancun airport, fell 1.4 percent to 55.50 pesos at 4:10 p.m. New York time in Mexico City trading yesterday after earlier rising as much as 1.6 percent.

The peso fell for the first time in six days, declining 0.8 percent to 13.4594 pesos per dollar at 5 p.m. New York time from 13.3569 pesos yesterday. Mexico’s benchmark Bolsa index fell 0.3 percent to 29,100.05, the first decline in six days.

To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Black in Monterrey at tblack@bloomberg.net and Andres Martinez in Mexico City at amartinez28@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 10, 2009 00:12 EDT