Student made meth in research lab, DEA says

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN DIEGO - A chemistry graduate student allegedly used a research lab at San Diego State to manufacture methamphetamine, Ecstasy and an anesthetic 80 times more potent than morphine, authorities said.

Matthew Finley, 26, was arrested at his home in Ocean Beach on Wednesday on drug charges and the Chemical Sciences Laboratory was shut down as investigators removed the drugs, said Misha Piastro, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"He felt he could get away with it. To his disappointment today, he did not," Piastro said. "His disregard for the safety of the rest of the student body is alarming and not something we take lightly."

Finley told investigators that he manufactured methamphetamine and a chemical used to make methamphetamine, as well as Ecstasy and an anesthetic called fentanyl in the university lab, according to a court document. Capsules of Ecstasy, vials of fentanyl and three marijuana plants were seized from his home, authorities said.