Boston middle school student accused of keeping drugs inside locker

BOSTON — Boston Police investigators say a middle school student is accused of bringing a bag of cocaine into school and hiding it in his locker.

School administrators at the Eliot Innovative School in the North End suspected the boy had been bringing drugs into the school after multiple students reported hearing the boy talking about bringing drugs to school and that he often goes to New York City, where he would allegedly obtain the drugs.

While officials haven’t identified the student, they say his age is somewhere between fifth and eighth grade, which means he could be 10 to 15-years-old.

“Oh my God, fifth and eighth grade?" said Halle Usseglio, a Suffolk University student. “Yeah, that’s scary. My brother is in eighth grade, so knowing that kids in his class could have access to that is like, very frightening.”

“That’s really young," said Bob Cocco, a father.

After administrators heard from students what had been going on, they searched the boy’s locker to find a white powder hidden inside a plastic bag inside a thermos.

Police were then called to the school on Jan. 29 to look into the claims. An investigator "inspected the thermos and discovered a white powdery substance that he believed to be cocaine.”

When the officer asked the student what was the substance inside the thermos, the boy said, “I don’t believe anything is in there."

The student was arrested for possession of a class B substance and taken to a BPD station for booking.

“I would freak out," said Rob Gangi, a father of an 8-year-old boy from Shrewsbury. "It’s different, I think it’s just a different time now than it was when we were kids.”

The school teaches fifth through eighth grade. Boston 25 News reached out to the school for a comment on whether the boy had been suspended or expelled, but a school spokesperson said they don’t comment on student discipline.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Boston Public Schools said:

“The safety and well being of our students and staff is always our top priority. In an isolated incident, it was reported to a school administrator that another student may have been in possession of an illegal substance. Boston School Police and Boston Police responded immediately and the student was arrested on this suspicion. Any student involved in illegal activity is subject to discipline in accordance with the BPS Code of Conduct as well as consequences with law enforcement.”

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