Australian Pilot Timothy Clark Was Killed in the Accident

At the scene of a plane crash that killed 46-year-old Australian pilot Timothy Clark, authorities came across nearly 200 kilograms of cocaine… and, oddly enough, it was completely covered in SpaceX branding. Brazilian officials are now investigating in hopes of learning where the drugs were headed and what went wrong on the way.

The crash occurred at around 1:30 pm on Sunday, September 14. The aircraft, an Airplane Factory Sling 4 registered in Zambia, went down in a sugarcane field near Coruripe, in Brazil’s northeastern Alagoas region.

While the plane had been operating in Brazil for at least two years, officials said no flight plan had been filed, leaving the plane’s intended destination unknown. The Zambian registration is also cause for confusion, raising questions about whether the aircraft was part of an international trafficking route.

Forensic testing confirmed the packages contained cocaine, and authorities estimated the seizure’s value at roughly nine million Brazilian reais, or about $2.5 million Australian, at wholesale prices. The street value in Australia would have been dramatically higher, with 200 kilograms potentially worth $80 million, given the country’s inflated retail drug prices.

Brazil is not a major cocaine producer, but it is bordered by Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, which are three of the world’s largest coca-growing nations. Brazil is known for providing access routes to Africa, Asia, and Europe, as well as its own sizable market. A United Nations report has previously identified the country as one of the most frequent departure points for international cocaine shipments.

The unusual SpaceX branding has raised eyebrows, but it was likely little more than a marketing tactic by smugglers to distinguish their product. There is no evidence linking Elon Musk’s aerospace company to the drugs. Brazilian investigators are now working to determine the trafficking network involved and whether Clark was directly connected to organized crime groups or merely ferrying the shipment.

FMI: www.airplanefactory.com