WHITEVILLE — A former Robeson County sheriff’s deputy was arrested on Monday and charged with stealing prescription drugs from a pharmacy while on duty as an officer with the Fair Bluff Police Department, according to the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office.

Gregory Thomas Campbell, 40, of 4505 South Creek Road, Orrum, actually was called to investigate the breaking and entering he is now charged with committing, according to Fair Bluff Police Chief Marty Lewis. He was arrested without incident at the Sheriff’s Office while there for unrelated business on Monday afternoon.

Campbell is charged with trafficking opium, possession with the intent to sell a controlled substance, and breaking and entering and larceny, according to a statement by Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten. He was being held at the Columbus County jail under a $300,000 bond, but it was reduced to $75,000 on Tuesday, said Rex Gore, district attorney of Columbus County.

An investigation by the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office’s Narcotics Division led to Campbell’s arrest.

According to Gore, Campbell is charged with a breaking and entering that occurred on Oct. 21 around 2 a.m. at the Fair Bluff Discount Drug owned by Jack Meares. Meares said that $500 worth of damage was done to the pharmacy, and $2,500 in opium-based medications, including Lorcet and Percocet, were stolen.

There was also a break-in at the pharmacy two days before, on Oct. 19, but Campbell has not been implicated in that crime, according to Lewis.

Meares has since added bars to windows at his business.

“That’s who’s suppose to serve and protect and it’s made the whole system look bad,” Meares said. “Where can you put your trust?”

On Monday before his arrest, Campbell was fired from the Fair Bluff Police Department for unrelated reasons, according Lewis, who would not give any details, stating it was a “personnel issue.” Campbell had only been on the Fair Bluff police force as an officer for six weeks.

According to Lewis, Campbell has worked as a dispatcher for the Highway Patrol in Elizabethtown, a sheriff’s deputy in Robeson and Moore counties, and as a police officer in Fairmont and Tabor City.