D.E.A. CHIEF ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION

After 39 years in law enforcement, Thomas Constantine abruptly announced
Monday that he would step down as the administrator of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, which he has headed since March 1994.

Constantine said his decision was not motivated by political
considerations. Now 60 years old, he said, he wants to return to New York
and spend more time with his family. But he has disagreed, sometimes
forcefully, with the rest of the Clinton administration's portrayal of
Mexico as a full ally in fighting the flow of drugs into the United States.

Testifying before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control on
Feb. 24, Constantine asserted that Mexican drug trafficking organizations
posed the worst criminal threat to the nation that he had seen in nearly 40
years in law enforcement. Two days later, Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright declared that Mexico was cooperating fully with the United States
in drug-fighting efforts.

Constantine's readiness to assail Mexico's record on drugs set him well
apart from other senior administration officials. But Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
the White House director of national drug control policy, who supported
certifying Mexico, praised Constantine effusively Monday for "his
dedication, persistence, seriousness and integrity." McCaffrey said, "He
did a superb job as the nation's top drug cop."

Constantine, who said he had planned to announce his retirement last month,
expects to leave office by July 1.

"My sense with these things is to make it as quick as you can, and as short
a time between when you announce it and you actually go," Constantine said
in an interview at the headquarters of the federal drug agency in
Arlington, Va. He added, "What was also important for me was a strong
reputation for integrity. I wanted to be able to leave here with it."

He declined to go into details.

Constantine was superintendent of the New York State Police, when President
Clinton appointed him head of the Drug Enforcement Administration on March
11, 1994. As administrator he added more than 1,100 agents, raising the
agency's total strength to more than 9,000 agents and supporting employees.

McCaffrey said that Constantine had "made an enormous difference" in
refocusing the agency to give more assistance to local sheriffs and police
chiefs who were fighting drug trafficking in their areas. This involved
dispatching teams agents, who arrested more than 8,000 suspected drug
traffickers around the country.

Under Constantine, the drug agency also helped the Colombian police
dismantle the Cali drug cartel.

Constantine's successor has not been named. A likely candidate is the
agency's deputy administrator, Donnie Marshall, a veteran agent who was
previously the chief of operations.

Constantine said he hoped to return to New York to teach and to consult for
law enforcement organizations.

"It is totally and completely a personal decision," he said, but then
hinted at a sense of isolation in Washington. "I probably could have stuck
around to the end of this administration," he said, "but it would be
disingenuous."