Bay State 'Detains' Drug Dealer Doing Business In Providence

PROVIDENCE, RI—Richard Campbell, 47, of New Bedford, Mass., is being held without bail after a judge found he was a danger to the community, the Bristol County District Attorney's Office said Thursday. At a dangerousness hearing July 2 in Fall River, Mass., Superior Court, officers testified they saw him selling narcotics in New Bedford and in Dartmouth, Mass., and in Providence, where they followed him.

Campbell was indicted in June for trafficking, weapons and for being an armed career criminal. He was "arrested earlier this year for selling fentanyl and possessing illegal firearms while on probation for a prior drug distribution conviction," the D.A.'s office said. He also has two convictions.

He will be in custody while his case is pending. According to court papers, New Bedford Police learned he was selling fentanyl at his Chancery Street apartment. They used a confidential informant to arrange a drug purchase and then obtained a search warrant.

"The defendant was followed from Providence to New Bedford, where he was stopped by the police," the office said. They searched him and his apartment and allege they found drugs and "a .25 caliber Beretta semi-automatic firearm and a box with 50 loose rounds of .25 caliber ammunition."

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