Italian teacher ‘caught with $1.1 million of cocaine worth hidden in her luggage at Melbourne Airport’

 

• Elisa Salatino, 39, landed in Melbourne Airport from Rome on February 12
• Australian Border Force allegedly uncovered the drug in one of her bags
• The five kilograms of cocaine worth $1.1 million was in a bag with a false bottom
• Salatino appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court facing life in prison if guilty

By Nelson Groom for Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press

Published: 22:41 EDT, 21 May 2017 | Updated: 22:53 EDT, 21 May 2017

This is the Italian teacher who allegedly imported five kilograms of cocaine worth $1.1 million into Australia in a bag with a false bottom.

Elisa Salatino, 39, touched down in Melbourne International Airport from Rome on February 12, when Australian Border Force officials allegedly uncovered the drug hidden in one of her bags.

Salatino has appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 22 to face charges with a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.

Elisa Salatino allegedly imported five kilograms of cocaine worth $1.1 million into Australia

Salatino spoke through an Italian interpreter and made no application for bail.

She is charged with importing and possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

The bag had been fitted with a false bottom made out of a piece of plywood, the Australian Federal Police will allege they discovered during an x-ray.

Further tests are being conducted to determine the exact weight and purity of the substance.

Australian Border Force officials allegedly uncovered the drug hidden in one of her bags with a false bottom made out of a piece of plywood

Salatino has appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 22 to face charges with a maximum sentence of life in prison

A Facebook post from one day before her arrest shows a smiling Salatino with the accompanying message: ‘Happy Weekend.’

According to Italian media, Salatino works as a special education teacher in the province of Brindisi.

Her brother claimed she was flying to Melbourne for a refresher course as part of her teaching.

An order has been made for her to appear in court in person on September 8 for a half-day contested committal hearing.

Salatino has appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 22 to face charges with a maximum sentence of life in prison

Her brother claimed she was flying to Melbourne for a refresher course as part of her teaching www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4528784/Italian-teacher-caught-five-kgs-cocaine.html