The self-taught computer expert suspected to be a key link in the importation of hundreds of kilograms of ice and cocaine to Australia each month has been unmasked.
James Robert Charles Tims is allegedly providing Australian criminals with tech support and cryptocurrency money-laundering services from offshore.
Tims, 38, is now living in the Middle East where he has been allegedly co-ordinating the shipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to Australia each month.
He allegedly charges a 20 per cent “fee” for every successful delivery.
Tims is also suspected of providing crucial communication support for an Iraqi cartel that has ties to Iran.
The Iraqi cartel has ordered more than 30 firebombings at bars and strip clubs in Melbourne this year.
There are concerns that Tims has become so prolific he may be targeted by “Unit 11,000” – a “covert unit” in Iran’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard responsible for arranging attacks on Australia.
The IRGC has been blamed for firebombings at a synagogue in Melbourne, which was allegedly organised by former Australian criminal Kazem Hamad, who was yesterday sentenced to life in jail in Iraq on drugs charges.
This masthead is not suggesting that Tims is working for the IRGC, only that his services would be wanted by the group.
ASIO director general Mike Burgess detailed his concerns about Iran’s targeting of Australians based in the Middle East during his annual threat assessment speech in June.
Tims pleaded guilty in May last year and was told he was likely to get a 14-year sentence for his role in smuggling 142kg of ice into Australia in 2021, court documents state.
But weeks later he allegedly caught a light plane to Western Australia before jumping on a small boat that took him to Bali, Indonesia, before he eventually found his way to the Middle East.
The Australian Federal Police have been hunting Tims since he was last seen in Sunshine, in Melbourne’s west, on July 14 last year.
The Victorian County Court issued an arrest warrant for him when he failed to show for a plea hearing on November 12.
Tims had been granted bail despite requests from police prosecutors that he be remanded in custody.
His mother, Michelle Johnston, 58, and grandmother agreed to pay a bond of $875,000 when he posted bail.
Ms Johnston called Tims’ former partner when he skipped bail, trying to find him, according to a copy of the judgment into a bail forfeiture hearing.
He was only allowed “one device” as part of his bail and chose a “laptop”, which meant all calls had to go through his former partner, court documents state.
However, he still had access to Signal, an encrypted messaging app, on his laptop.
Ms Johnston pleaded with Victoria’s County Court to reduce the amount of bail forfeiture she was required to pay this year, because she was about to lose her home if forced to pay up immediately.
“Ms Johnston’s affidavit describes her fragile personal circumstances. She owns, with her ex-partner, a home with a capital improved value of approximately $775,000. It is unencumbered,” a ruling from Judge Todd states.
“Her financial position has improved a little since signing as guarantor at which time she was receiving Centrelink payments and unemployed.
“She now has work at the office of a plumber and at a supermarket deli and earns approximately $950 per week after tax.
“Ms Johnston holds $551,032 in a superannuation fund which she intends to use to satisfy the forfeiture order if her application is unsuccessful and so to avoid losing her family home.”
There is no suggestion that Ms Johnston or any of Tims’ family members were involved in any wrongdoing.
The court allowed Ms Johnston to delay the payment until she turns 60 on December 31 next year, when she can access her superannuation without paying additional tax.
The payment was reduced to $300,000 from an $875,000 surety, with Tims’ grandmother also released from her requirement to pay.
Company documents show that Tims, who was born in Preston, ran cyber security business The Division X Pty Ltd from a $1.7 million home in Keilor, in Melbourne’s west.
He was relisted as a director of the company on June 23, 2025 – less than a month before he failed to show up to court on drugs charges.
Tims was also a previous director of Division X Pty Ltd, which was listed to a Collins Street address but cut ties with that company in September last year after he had been charged with drug offences.
A company, listed to a home in Caroline Springs, in Melbourne’s west, previously listed Tims as director and company secretary between May 7, 2015 and February 1, 2021.
That company was named Semper Ad Meliora, which is Latin for “always towards better things”.
Tims has scrubbed his social media accounts, but a LinkedIn profile still lists him as a “cyber security specialist”.
Police have urged anyone with information about Tims to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.