By David Madden

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) — A South Jersey police officer is charged with illegally buying prescription drugs while on the job.  It’s a job he won’t be holding much longer.

Tom Eden Jr., 31, is a seven-year veteran of the Gloucester Township police force.  He was arrested yesterday afternoon in a hotel room after allegedly buying seven prescription painkillers from an undercover informant.  Five more pills were also on his person at the time, according to township police chief Harry Earle.

“At the time of the arrest, Mr. Eden was working as a Gloucester Township police officer, wearing a uniform and driving a marked Gloucester Township police unit,” Chief Earle says.

Now, Eden is facing several drug charges, and is suspended without pay as the township intends to fire him.

Earle says a quick review finds no problem with Eden’s recent arrest record, but they’re looking to see if he used the drugs himself or was selling them to someone else.