Four men and a woman are in police custody while the search continues for a small aircraft registered to Air Services Limited which mysteriously disappeared from the Anna Regina airstrip early Sunday morning.

And General Manager of Air Services Ltd, Fazel Khan told Stabroek News yesterday that it is highly likely that the aircraft has left the country.

Among the people in custody is a Russian, one of the directors of Fenix Airways Inc, the company which bought the plane from Air Services Ltd, but which has not paid in full. The small aircraft vanished from the Anna Regina airstrip between Sunday and early Monday morning.

According to a police press release issued on Monday the blue and white Piper Seneca aircraft with red stripes and marking, 8RGAA on the tail disappeared from the airstrip between 8 am on Sunday and 7 am on Monday. Khan told Stabroek News yesterday that he would not speculate as to what actually occurred leading to the disappearance of the aircraft. He however pointed out that Air Services had sold the plane to Fenix Airways Inc about a month ago, but the company did not pay in full and as such the registration of the aircraft has remained with it pending full payment. Khan told Stabroek News that the aircraft departed the Air Services hangar at Ogle on Sunday with a flight plan to land at Anna Regina. There is speculation that if the aircraft was stolen it may be in the hands of drug dealers operating between Guyana and Venezuela.

Residents had told this newspaper on Monday that they had seen the aircraft circling before touching down on Sunday.

According to them, they saw what appeared to be persons refuelling the plane before it took off once again. The Anna Regina airstrip is an open field and is not usually used for commercial flights as those flights normally utilize the Hampton Court airstrip. The airstrip is also surrounded by bush and is not visible from the road.

Meanwhile, attorney-at-law, Anil Nandlall who is representing some of the detainees told Stabroek News last evening that one of the pilots of Fenix Airways travelled to Essequibo on Sunday to take his family. Nandlall said the pilot left the aircraft on the airfield to escort his family to the home of a relative and by the time he returned the plane had vanished. Nandlall said yesterday morning police investigators inquired about the whereabouts of the Russian and he decided to escort the man to Eve Leary for him to meet with the police.

The lawyer said that police later detained the Russian along with three directors of Fenix Airways Inc. Nandlall said too that a fifth person is being held at the Brickdam Police Station. Complaining that the detainees are being treated as accused instead of victims, the lawyer said the police refused to allow him to speak to his clients while they were being questioned at the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary.