September 14, 2009 | 11:29 am

God told hijacker preacher to do it

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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How did I miss this fun one last week? Check it:

A Bolivian preacher who hijacked a Mexican plane saying he was on a divine mission used three juice cans to convince crew members he had a bomb, he later told reporters.

Jose Marc Flores Pereira, 44, a Bible-carrying evangelical preacher, singer and former drug addict, surrendered to authorities here Wednesday after hijacking the Aeromexico Boeing 737 on a flight from the tourist resort of Cancun to Mexico City.

All 104 people on board—most of whom had no idea they had been taken hostage—were safely evacuated as security forces swarmed Mexico’s international airport within minutes of the plane landing.

The airline said it was originally alerted to the situation after it “received a bomb threat while in flight,” according to a statement.

“It wasn’t a bomb,” a smiling Flores Pereira told reporters after his arrest. “It was three Jumex (juice) cans that I filled with sand and put some little colored lights on.”

That’s a photo of Pereira from the AFP. You’ll notice his hands cuffed, an officer to his right and the Star of David around his neck. Not sure why. This article says that Pereira was an evangelical preacher, so he’s probably just a big fan of Israel. But it also refers to him as a priest; there’s only one Protestant brand of that variety: Anglicans. More likely, the AFP reporter was just being very imprecise with her use of religious language.

What does seem clear is that Pereira isn’t the kind of anything you want giving directions to any congregation.