Secret negotiations for Phillip Smith's return

The deportation arrangements for convicted murder and child abuser John Phillip Smith were negotiated in secret by Interpol branches in Rio de Janeiro and Wellington.

New Zealand Police confirmed this morning that Smith had been deported from Brazil and was en-route to New Zealand.

He was spotted boarding a flight from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Chile at around 6.20am NZT. The plane is expected to land in New Zealand at 4am tomorrow.

Brazil Interpol's head office in Brasilia was kept out of the loop during the deportation negotiations. Last weekend it sent police in Wellington a message saying Smith would not be deported during the week and the police escort ready to travel to Brazil on Monday should stay in New Zealand.

Though Smith was already at the airport, Federal Police in Brasilia said they were still awaiting a Supreme Court decision about an extradition request the court never received.

Federal judge Flavio Roberto de Souza, who issued the deportation sentence, said he was working with Rio-based federal agents and a federal attorney in order to avoid Smith being released next Monday. "If that happened, he could easily vanish," said the judge.

Phillip Smith is escorted on to a flight at Rio Airport.

Smith left prison at the Gericino penitenciary complex late Thursday morning (Brazil time) and arrived at the airport at luch time. For security reasons, Brazilian and New Zealand officers took him through restricted areas at the airport and had him board the plane first so he wouldn't have contact with the public.

Passengers in the terminal and on the same flight had mixed reactions.

Marlice da Matta, who boarded on the same flight as Smith, said she wasn't too worried, as long as Smith was restrained.

"If I knew there was an international criminal on my plane I would panic (but) if he is escorted and handcuffed, I see no problem."

Another passenger said she wouldn't be able to relax. "I would be afraid of flying. I wouldn't rely on any escort and would be alert the during the whole flight.'' She said she didn't want to know Smith's identity. "Please don't say it, I'm taking four kids with me."

However, administrator Vera Fatima Araguez who was flying to Uruguay said she would be "scared to death, even with a police escort" if she was on the same flight.