Aussie pilot found dead after plane ditches carrying 200kg of SpaceX-branded cocaine in BrazilMatt ShrivellThe NightlyMon, 15 September 2025 3:07PMCommentsComments
Authorities have confirmed a pilot found dead after flying a plane that crashed carrying 200kg of SpaceX-branded cocaine, is Australian.
Police in Brazil discovered the wreckage of the light plane in a sugarcane field in Coruripe, on the coast of the Alagoas region, and confirmed the body of the dead pilot found nearby is that of 46-year-old Timothy J Clark.
Mr Clark, who was carrying identification confirming his nationality, was flying the plane when it crashed at around 1.30pm on Sunday, in a renowned international drug route, according to local media outlet Gazeta.
The plane is registered in the African nation of Zambia, but is believed to have been hangared in Brazil for the last two years.
No details of the journey had been logged with Brazilian authorities, and the destination of the flight remains a mystery.
Images supplied by police show the cocaine was packaged into bricks, with each one individually wrapped using the readily identifiable SpaceX branding of Elon Musk’s spacecraft and rocket division. The substance was tested and confirmed to contain cocaine.
The monster haul is estimated to be worth around $80 million had the drugs hit the streets in Australia, which has some of the highest prices in the world for the illicit drug.
Brazil plays a major role in the world’s drug cocaine distribution and although only small amounts of the drug are produced in Brazil, the country plays a big role in global drug distribution.
A 2016 report by the United Nations found that Brazil was the most frequently cited departure point of cocaine arriving in African, Asian and European markets after Colombia, the Daily Mail reports.
This is largely due to Brazil’s neighbours – Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia, with loosely monitored borders. and the nation is also the world’s second-largest consumer of cocaine (after the US) because the drug is so cheap – as little as $5 a gram.
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