Three Brazilian nationals were each fined $150,000 on Friday after pleading guilty to trespassing on the Lethem Airstrip in the Central Rupununi.

Jose Carlos Casto Bibeiro, 28, a mechanic of Terezina; Clebson Raoni, 37, a carpenter of São Paulo; and Lucis Silva Marth, 35, an operator of Boa Vista, were charged with trespassing on an aerodrome, contrary to Section 83(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 2018.

The offence was committed on Wednesday at the Lethem Airstrip. The men appeared before Magistrate Omadatt Chandan at the Lethem Magistrate's Court, where the charge was read and translated by a court-appointed interpreter.

The convictions follow repeated warnings by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority cautioning members of the public against unauthorised entry onto airstrips and aerodromes across the country.

The authority has stressed that such intrusions pose serious safety risks to aircraft operations and personnel, and that offenders would be prosecuted.