Former St Kevin’s teacher arrested over cocaine smuggling ring
A Melbourne man who was teaching at Toorak’s prestigious St Kevin’s College as recently as July, is facing life imprisonment over his alleged role in one of Australia’s biggest cocaine smuggling rings.
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Parents and staff at a top private school have been left reeling after a former teacher was arrested as part of a probe into one of Australia’s biggest cocaine smuggling rings.
Pierino “Peter” Forni, who taught at St Kevin’s College in Toorak, is alleged to be part of an organised-crime syndicate involved in drug smuggling and money laundering.
In the days before Mr Forni was allegedly part of a plot to fly a plane from Papua New Guinea to Australia carrying 500kg of cocaine worth $80 million, he was teaching St Kevin’s year 10 design and technology students online.
The plane crashed on July 26, leading to the arrest of Mr Forni and four others.
The school abruptly ended Mr Forni’s employment on August 3, not because of his arrest, but because acting principal John Crowley received concerning reports from a parent about his teaching style.
It informed parents on August 13, after his arrest.
“He told my son he was contracted to the military and said he’d bring in a bullet to make us behave,” one father told the Herald Sun.
“He told students he had Sicilian heritage and a mafia background, and would bring in the shell from an AK-47.”
The children, taught online by Mr Forni, 61, for about four weeks, weren’t scared, but thought he was strange.
“The irony is that he was quite a good teacher,” the parent said.
Other parents have given mixed reactions to the latest drama involving the school.
Recent incidents included students singing a sexist chant on a tram and the resignation of senior staff amid child- grooming charges laid against an athletics coach.
One parent said Mr Forni’s employment was “the last straw”.
“Imagine sitting there teaching a whole bunch of year 10 kids, doing design tech via Google Meets, while your drug plane takes off,” he said.
Another said he was satisfied because Mr Crowley “acted promptly once concerns were raised”.
It’s understood Mr Forni worked at a series of Victorian schools as a relief teacher, including at St Joseph’s College in Geelong in 2017 and at Reservoir High School in 2018.
Mr Forni was arrested in Melbourne with another man, Salvatore Formica, after the drug plane, heavily overloaded with the cocaine, crashed off a remote airstrip in Port Moresby, Melbourne Magistrates’ Court was told.
Mr Forni did not have a criminal record.
Rev David Peake OAM offered a character reference in court for Mr Forni, saying he was shocked. “He does not condone drugs or drug taking,” he said. Rev Peake said Mr Forni’s partner Sarah was “very upset”.
Mr Forni’s extradition to Queensland — following arrests in that state in relation to the cocaine plane — has been put on hold pending an appeal to be heard in the Supreme Court next Thursday.
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