Feds uncover drug lab in UA building

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat In the lab on the fifth floor of the Marvel building, Drug Enforcement Administration agents searched and arrested UA graduate student Chad A. Gettel on suspicion of distribution and production of a controlled substance. Agents said they confiscated a small amount of the drug known as "Ecstasy" and chemicals used to make the drug.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents Thursday arrested Gettel, 23, on suspicion of distribution and production of a controlled substance.

A subsequent search of Gettel's personal workspace in the University of Arizona's Marvel Building, 1213 E. South Campus Drive, uncovered "useable quantities" of Methylendioxymethylamphetamine, or MDMA, said Special Agent Jim Molesa, a Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman.

DEA agents investigating a drug case in Atlanta obtained information that implicated Gettel, a non-degree seeking graduate student, Molesa said.

The compounds Gettel was legitimately researching could be transformed into MDMA - a stimulant and mild hallucinogenic commonly known as "Ecstasy" or "X" - with two basic reactions, chemistry professor Robert Bates said yesterday.

Bates' fifth-floor lab was where Gettel worked with several other students.

"We all knew the compounds are close to amphetamine, and it's a really easy group of drugs to make," Bates said. "You have to have the know-how, and he had the know-how. Apparently, he couldn't resist the temptation."

Agents went to Bates' lab Thursday and found chemicals and tools used to make MDMA, Molesa said. They returned with a search warrant Friday and searched Gettel's personal lab space and locked cabinet, he said.

"Agents found additional precursor chemicals and a little bit of the finished product MDMA," Molesa said.

The exact amount of the substance seized was unknown, he said.

Gettel, who was released after posting a $20,000 bond, could not be reached for comment yesterday. He may face additional charges following a complete investigation, Molesa said.

If convicted, Gettel could face up to life imprisonment, depending on the amount of MDMA involved and any prior convictions.

Federal law also allows the sentence to be doubled if someone is convicted of manufacturing or distributing such drugs on or within 1,000 feet of a school or university campus.

Bates said he has never had problems with Gettel, who mostly worked on the weekends while Bates was not present.

"I was shocked. Everybody was shocked. It's like a bad dream, except it wasn't a dream," Bates said.

"He had a legitimate project . that got him into the lab," he said. "He was making good progress on that project, but on the side, he may have been making this drug."

Bates and Seth Ruskin, a laboratory manager for the Chemistry Department, both said the nature of chemical research makes it difficult to prevent abuse.

"It's basically an honor system," Bates said. "You can't take the starting substance off the market because they're legitimate compounds used for many other projects. I don't know how to keep people from doing things on the side."

Although several other students who work for Bates use the same lab, there is no reason to believe they are involved, Molesa said.

University police Sgt. Michael Smith said UAPD was not involved in the investigation but assisted agents by securing the area during their search.

In a memo to deans, directors and department heads Friday, university spokeswoman Sharon Kha said the University of Arizona is not involved in the investigation.

Neither Kha nor university attorney Thomas Thompson, who had been contacted by DEA agents, could be reached for comment.

Bates said UA students have been caught making drugs in campus chemistry labs about once every 10 years.

"In one, about 20 years ago, an undergraduate made PCP and took some himself," Bates said. "He freaked out . it took four people to hold him down. He had the recipe and chemicals and apparatus all there and freely admitted it."

The DEA recently has discovered other MDMA manufacturing operations in Tucson, but they are rare because the necessary chemicals are not commonly available, Molesa said.

"In the Tucson area, we've come across it a few times in the past two years," he said. "They have extraordinary difficulty because of getting the chemicals and such. Most people can't get their hands on benzene, so usually it's not something we see."

MDMA is popular with young people because it is a "lightweight LSD" with no dramatic psychological effect, Molesa said.

"Unlike meth (crystal methamphetamine), which you see being manufactured in houses, MDMA is a little more complicated to make," he said. "The availability of a lab like a (chemistry) laboratory would provide . is helpful."