He began drug trafficking as a teenager, directly with Colombian cartels, bringing cocaine from Medellin to Rio de Janeiro and to the United States.
[5] Marco Archer was arrested at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, in 2003, with 13.4 kilos of cocaine hidden inside hang-gliding tubes.
[19] His execution, after being denied all requests for clemency made by the Brazilian government,[20] 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.
[21] 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.