A small plane crash in a Brazilian province has become the beginning of an international investigation. What initially seemed like a simple tragedy has revealed unexpected connections between private aviation, shadowy business networks and the notorious European Kinahan cartel. The details of the incident reveal a complex system in which small flights and legitimate companies can become part of a global scheme. The journalists traced the path from an unknown pilot to the people behind one of the world’s most influential criminal organizations. The material explains how modern supply routes work, what technologies help expose hidden connections, and why this story may have a continuation far beyond Latin America.
An Australian pilot who recently died in South America in a botched drug operation has links to an alleged member of the Kinahan cartel who is accused of smuggling a multi-million dollar cocaine shipment into Western Australia.
The body of former Melbourne stockbroker Timothy James Clark was reportedly found on September 14 in the wreckage of his single-engine Sling 4 aircraft in northeastern Brazil along with an estimated 200kg of cocaine.
Local media reported that Clark was the only passenger on the plane, which was equipped with extra fuel tanks and appeared to have its transponder switched off.
Melbourne newspaper The Age reported on Thursday that Clark’s failed mission in South America was his “first rodeo” and cited a confidential source as saying the 46-year-old was involved in a drug smuggling operation in Western Australia last year.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged German businessman Oliver Andreas Herrmann and Melbourne resident Hamish Falconer with trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug in December after a search of their hotel rooms turned up 200kg of cocaine packed in suitcases in individual one-kilogram blocks, along with night-vision goggles, aviation equipment and a hardware cryptocurrency wallet.
Herrmann allegedly encountered a “small plane” at the remote Overlander airstrip the day before his arrest. AFP did not disclose the make or model of the plane, but said it had not seized the plane as part of its investigation.
Investigators estimated the street value of the drugs at A$65 million and said an “organized crime syndicate” was likely responsible for the scheme.
This follows a report in The Sunday Times that revealed that Herrmann had “close financial ties” to Christy Kinahan, the 68-year-old founder of an international drug cartel of the same name. Herrmann had no known previous ties to organized crime.
The investigation has uncovered evidence linking Kinahan’s alleged cartel partner, Oliver Herrmann, to Timothy Clarke, an Australian who died in a plane crash in Brazil two weeks ago.
Using online tools that combine open-source data and reverse image searches, the researchers found more than a dozen accounts registered in Clark’s name on social media platforms, travel sites, and review services.
This open-source review shows that the Australian pilot, who used the nickname “Broker” on X and Instagram, documented his travels to more than 20 countries in Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia over the past decade.
Clark frequently used Tripadvisor to post reviews, including about a catamaran rental in Bali and VIP service at a bar in Saint-Tropez, where he spent €5,500 on “ultra-class” drinks.
Clark was also an associate of Oliver Herrmann; the German businessman’s Facebook profile shows that he was “friends” with the Australian pilot. And a 2018 restaurant review posted by Clark included a photo of the pair dining together in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
The photo’s filename is dated March 2, the same day Herrmann logged a run in Harare on the fitness app Strava. That same week, Clark posted a review of a bar in Harare not far from where Herrmann logged another run using GPS that same day.
Herrmann, a renowned runner who won the 2016 Munich Marathon, logged more than 2,500 activities in dozens of countries on Strava between 2013 and 2023. His use of the fitness app provided a comprehensive overview of his travels over that period.
According to corporate records, Herrmann has held executive positions with companies in the fintech, mining and consulting sectors.
Like Christy Kinahan, Clarke had an active Google Maps profile, where he posted reviews, photos, and ratings. His profile used the alias “John Smith,” but Clarke is pictured in one of the images posted by the account, and his real name is used in a response from one of the properties, confirming that it was his.
Clarke also left reviews on Tripadvisor for two Zimbabwean properties – Amanzi Lodge and Thetford Estate – that Christy Kinahan later visited, according to the cartel leader’s own Google Maps profile.
Clarke, who lived in South Africa until his death, was also one of eight followers of Adam Wood, Christy Kinahan’s known associate in Africa.
South African news outlet City Press reported last week that Clark also operated a second aircraft for “legitimate” flights, a Beechcraft King Air 350 with Malawian registration number 7Q-YAO.
Clark posted a Google review for a business at Johannesburg’s Lanseria Airport on the same day in April 2024 that a Beechcraft King Air 350 landed there, according to ADS-B Exchange tracking data.
The Sunday Times reported today that the Sling 4 designer plane flown by Clark had been heavily modified for transatlantic flights. A source told the newspaper that Clark had replaced the engine at least once in Brazil, suggesting he was regularly flying long distances in it, and may have installed a third engine because of the number of flying hours he had accumulated.
Clark’s plane crashed about 11 hours into the flight from the Amazon basin, a region that has become a major cocaine smuggling route to Europe, the fastest-growing market for the drug.
Tons of the drug is smuggled from neighboring Peru and Colombia through the Amazon before being shipped to Europe and Africa.
The Sunday Times reported that Clarke and Herrmann’s alleged activities suggest the Kinahan cartel has opened up new smuggling routes for smaller consignments following a series of cocaine seizures by police across Europe.
Oliver Herrmann, who has no known criminal record, has yet to enter a plea. His case will be heard in Perth Magistrates’ Court on October 10.
