Australian pilot crashes in Brazil with over R1 billion cocaine on board
An Australian pilot, Timothy James Clark, died in a plane crash in Coruripe, Alagoas, with 180 kg of cocaine onboard.
Image: Facebook/Timothy James Clark
An Australian pilot, Timothy James Clark, died in a plane crash in Coruripe, Alagoas, with 180 kg of cocaine onboard.
The crash site, a sugarcane field in Brazil, suggests a possible international drug trafficking route.
The drugs, packaged with SpaceX branding, were recovered from the wreckage of a Sling Aircraft D8 Sling 4 TSI which had been operating in Brazil for two years.
According to the Sunday Times, Clark purchased his aircraft from Sling Aircraft in South Africa in November 2022.
Clark, a 46-year-old former Qantas pilot with two decades of aviation experience, was the sole occupant of the aircraft when it crashed shortly after taking off from a rural airstrip.
Authorities discovered between 180kg and 195kg of cocaine at the site, packaged into more than 187 bricks wrapped with fake branding of SpaceX, the aerospace company run by Elon Musk.
With an estimated street value of nearly R1 billion, the haul of cocaine represents not only a significant loss but also a potential link in a wider criminal network.
Investigators noted that the plane appeared to have experienced engine failure, though the exact cause remains under scrutiny.
Authorities are now faced with the challenge of determining whether Clark was actively involved in the drug trafficking scheme or if he was unwittingly transporting the narcotics.
The Daily Mail reported that Clark used to live in South Africa.
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