PROVIDENCE – Twenty-two suspects are facing drug distribution charges after a month-long Providence police investigation in the Kennedy Plaza area, Mayor Brett P. Smiley and Police Chief Col. Oscar L. Perez Jr. announced Monday morning.
To build the case, members of the department’s narcotics bureau worked undercover at the downtown transportation hub , with assistance from the patrol bureau, the mayor and police chief said in a news release.
The defendants are charged with various counts of unlawful delivery of cocaine and conspiracy, Smiley and Perez said.
Most of the defendants are from Providence and on probation for previous arrests, Smiley and Perez said. Most of the suspects have criminal histories, with 14 of them having “felony/violent crime” convictions for charges including sexual assault, felony assault, illegal firearms offenses, drug distribution and domestic violence, Smiley and Perez said. One of the suspects was apprehended in the previous Kennedy Plaza drug sweep , according to Smiley and Perez.