The plan was foiled when another passenger on their charter flight (uninvolved in the plot), who had boarded on a stop-over, was caught with illegally imported fruit. This meant that the Seychellois customs were going to commence checking every single bag, which was not something the mercenaries could afford. As a result, the AK-47s were removed prematurely, and an armed skirmish ensued, in which the men hijacked an Indian jumbo jet to fly to South Africa.http://www.seychelles-s.info/seychelles-history.php History of the Seychelles, retrieved 24 June 2009 Hoare and the other mercenaries spent several years in South African prisons for their troubles.
