Cocaine concealed in pipes, hearing told

A VICTORIAN man charged after a police investigation into alleged drug trafficking on Hobart’s Eastern Shore was involved in a drug operation that used hidden pipes to conceal cocaine, a court has heard.

Mark Anthony Lanteri, 45, has pleaded not guilty to trafficking cocaine in April 2015.

A Supreme Court jury in Hobart yesterday heard the drug squad started an investigation in 2014 into the sale of the drug ice. Crown Prosecutor Jane Ansell said during the investigation, Mr Lanteri came to the officers’ attention.

Ms Ansell said Tasmania Police found two plastic pipes in April 2015, one buried near Belbins Rd, Cambridge, and another in a pine plantation near Centre Rd, Seven Mile Beach. She said pure cocaine was found in both pipes.

In the Belbins Rd pipe, a blue pencil case containing bags of cocaine and a black sunglasses case containing a zip lock bag of 113.5g of cocaine was found, Ms Ansell said.

She said a swab taken from the sunglasses case returned a DNA profile matching Mr Lanteri’s. Ms Ansell said a sur- veillance camera installed by police near the Centre Rd pipe recorded Mr Lanteri arriving at the pipe on foot on April 24 and placing a package inside.

Mr Lanteri’s lawyer, Todd Kovacic, asked the jurors to keep an “open mind” in relation to the subject matter and to “focus on the facts”. The trial, before Justice Stephen Estcourt, continues today.