Prosecution seeks death in 'Boy from Brazil' drug case

Multa Fidrus Tangerang

Prosecutors demanded on Tuesday that Brazilian citizen, Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 42, be sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court for smuggling 13.4 kilograms of cocaine through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport last August.

Beside the maximum penalty, prosecutors Adrizal and Eben Silalahi also requested the court to order the defendant to pay Rp 300 million (US$33,333) in fines. According to the prosecutors, the defendant was guilty of smuggling the drugs and violated Article 82 of Law No. 22/1997 on drugs.

"If the defendant was successful in smuggling the drugs from Peru into the country, we can't imagine how many young lives would have been destroyed," Adrizal said.

The prosecutors said there were no mitigating factors.

Moreira met with John Miller, who is still at large, at Lalu Restaurant on Jl. Orberoi, Bali, last June. Miller gave him US$10,000 and asked him to fly to Dolphin Bungalow in Cikama, Peru.

Miller told the defendant that a man called Cino, also still at large, would meet him and gave him plastic bags containing cocaine. After concealing the cocaine in his paraglider frame, Moreira then went to Trijillo in Peru by car and flew to Lima by Lam Peru Airlines. The defendant stayed for several days in Koitos in Lima. He then carried the drugs to Sao Paolo and boarded flight KLM 837 to Jakarta, arriving on Aug. 2, 2003.

Airport security officers, who asked him to put his luggage through the X-ray, became suspicious as one of his seven bags contained strange objects.

Officers opened the bag but the defendant said that it only contained a paraglider frame. They then asked the defendant to show his customs declaration and passport.

"No problem," he replied while walking toward a trolley to get the documents. At the same time, two Garuda flights had arrived and the incoming passengers crowded the terminal.

The defendant then ran off, leaving his bags behind. Officers tried to catch him but to no avail. They later opened his bags and found the paraglider frame filled with 29 black plastic bags containing white powder.

A test confirmed that the white powder was cocaine, weighing 13.4 kilograms.

National Police tracked down the defendant who was hiding out in a house belonging to Ahmad Abdullah, a resident of Sumbawa island, West Nusa Tenggara, on Aug. 16. When the police asked him to show some identification, the defendant said he had thrown away his passport, but said his name was Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira.

Presiding judge Suprapto adjourned the trial until next Tuesday to hear the defendant's defense plea.