An Indonesian court on Tuesday sentenced a Brazilian to death after convicting him of trying to smuggle 13.4 kg (29.5 lb) of cocaine into the country in a hang-glider.

Judges said Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, described by local media as a hang-gliding expert, hid the drugs in the frame of his hang-glider, which was searched at Jakarta's international airport in the satellite city of Tangerang last August.

It was one of Indonesia's biggest cocaine busts in recent years. "He is guilty of importing a type one narcotic, cocaine, and the court punishes the defendant with the death penalty," said presiding judge Suprapto.

"The defendant was one link in an international narcotics network that has threatened the country," said the judge, without elaborating.

Suprapto said Moreira testified he brought the drugs from Peru to Indonesia to pay a hospital where he had to be treated for months after a hang-gliding accident.

Moreira, 42, gave a courteous hand gesture to the court after the verdict and his lawyer said he would appeal.

The judge chided Moreira for escaping at the airport in August when customs officers quizzed him about the hang-glider.

When officers asked to see his passport, Moreira fled. He was a fugitive for two weeks until police caught him on the remote island of Moyo in the east of the sprawling archipelago.

Asked by reporters how he managed to slip away from airport authorities, Moreira said: "I'm David Copperfield" -- a reference to the U.S. magician.

Indonesia has taken an increasingly tough line on drug smuggling. President Megawati Sukarnoputri and other politicians have all backed capital punishment -- carried out by firing squad in Indonesia.

Despite the rhetoric, Indonesia has executed only one drug offender, a Malaysian, in the last decade.