SCHOOL ANTIDRUG ADVISER ARRESTED

A New Bedford man hired to help parents combat drug abuse in that city's
schools resigned yesterday, two days after he was arrested as he allegedly
picked up 44 pounds of marijuana shipped from California.

Michael J. Currin, a New Bedford High School graduate, pleaded not guilty
to possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and selling drugs within
1,000 feet of a school. He handed in his resignation to Michael Longo, who
will become superintendent of the New Bedford school system this summer,
Longo said.

Bristol County prosecutors said yesterday Currin's arrest had its
beginnings May 13 in San Diego where drug-sniffing dogs checking packages
at an Airborne Express facility reacted to three boxes destined for New
Bedford. California authorities notified the Bristol district attorney's
office, and state and New Bedford police obtained a search warrant and
tracked the packages as they made their way across the country.

They were delivered Tuesday to a North Street home that Currin reportedly
had purchased, said Assistant District Attorney David L. Crowley. No one
was home at the time the delivery was made, but around 9:45 a.m., Currin
drove up in a BMW 318 sedan and started loading the packages into the car.
Police moved in, used the search warrant to open the boxes, and discovered
the 44 pounds of marijuana, Crowley said. Crowley said Currin's name was
not on the packages.

"The actual, intended recipient was not known," Crowley said. "The police
didn't know who they were actually going to find as the person who was
going to pick it up." Currin's attorney, John Callaghan, could not be
reached for comment yesterday.

Longo said yesterday he knew Currin when he was a high school student. "He
was never a problem, this kid," Longo said. "He was a good student.

Played football. Not a troublemaker." Longo said Currin was hired by the
School Department three months ago to work as a community resource
specialist systemwide and to advise parents of students at the Keith Middle
School about alternative strategies for combating drug dealing.

Currin's hourly wages were paid through a multiyear federal grant used to
finance a "Safe Harbors" program, which helps parents and students reduce
violence and avoid drug use, Longo said.