The owner of Brazilian airline Meta Linhas, which operates weekly between neighbouring Brazil and Timehri, was gunned down on Thursday evening in Boa Vista.
Reports out of the neighbouring state of Roraima is that around 8pm, on Thursday evening, businessman Francisco Mesquita, 53, was about to enter his car after exiting a nearby pizza restaurant when he was shot—execution-style—more than five times to the chest.
Reports are that the businessman had already entered his vehicle when two men on a motorcycle rode up and riddled the driver side door of the vehicle with bullets. Police in the neighbouring community were able to trace the movements of the two men, after information was pointed out by a motorcyclist who followed the men.
Two men, one of whom owns another airline within Boa Vista, were arrested by military police while another man was later taken in custody.
News of the man’s passing sent shockwaves through the neighbouring community and in Lethem and sections of the Brazilian population.
Persons at the local office here noted yesterday that Mesquita’s passing would not have interrupted the operations of Meta. He was expected to be buried yesterday.
Mesquita had been president of the airline, which specialises in general aviation, since its establishment in 1991. He later passed on full responsibilities of the business to his daughter, Andrea Mesquita, the airlines’ Commercial Director.
In 1999, Meta received its first Embraer EMB 120 Brasília aircraft and was authorised to extend its operations to several areas within Brazil, including Santarém and Belém. With the delivery of a second aircraft of the same type, operations were further extended to Paramaribo and Georgetown.
Meta operates twice per week to Guyana, providing a link between Timehri, Paramaribo, and Boa Vista.
