Known for Drug trafficking Religion Roman Catholicism | Criminal penalty Death penalty Name Marco Moreira | |
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Conviction(s) Drug trafficking (2004) | ||
Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira (1961 - 18 January 2015) was a Brazilian citizen sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia in 2004 after being arrested while trying to enter the country with 13.4 kg of cocaine inside the tube of a hang glider. Archer was the first Brazilian executed abroad.
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Early life
Marco was born in a wealthy family in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro and his mother, Carolina, was a state civil servant in the city. He began drug trafficking as a teenager, directly with Colombian cartels, leading Medellin cocaine to Rio de Janeiro. As an adult, he became one of the capos of Bali, where he won fame of being a charismatic and humorous guy.
Archer was described as had travelled around the world, had a lot of women, went the finest places, ate in the best restaurants, all just the glamour and never used a weapon.
Arrest
Marco Archer was arrested at the airport of the capital Jakarta in 2003, with 13.4 kilos of cocaine hidden inside its gliding tubes. He lived on the Indonesian island of Bali for 15 years and spoke Bahasa Indonesia.
He fled the flagrant, but eventually was recaptured 15 days later, while trying to escape to East Timor. He was prosecuted and convicted for drug trafficking and sentenced to death.
Execution
Marco Archer was shot in the early hours of January 18, 2015, after eleven years in prison and several award of delays in the prison complex of Cilacap Prison in Java Island, 400 km from Jakarta, the capital country.
Marco Archer had his last Roman Catholic rites denied, according to Roman Catholic Priest Charles Burrows who was responsible to comfort him in the last moments of his death. Archer was dragged from his cell, as he cried and said "help me."
Archer chose to be executed on foot and blindfolded, according to the "Folha de S. Paulo". He died with a single shot fired into his chest.
Moreira was Roman Catholic and Brazilian embassy had hoped that at least spiritual solace before his death would be offered to him.
However, Indonesian authorities refused the presence of a priest, because there was no letter from Marco's attorney allowing spiritual presence .
After the execution of Marco Archer, his body was cremated and his ashes were transported to Brazil.
In Rio de Janeiro a Catholic Mass was celebrated in honour of him.
Reactions
His execution, after being denied all requests for clemency made by the Brazilian government, created a crisis between Brazil and Indonesia. This resulted in the recall of the Brazilian ambassador in Jakarta to return to Brazil under the instructions of the government of President Dilma Rousseff.
After Archer's death, the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, issued a statement saying she was outraged and the execution seriously affected the relationships between the two countries. She called the Brazilian ambassador for consultations.