An Arizona State University student was running a "significant Ecstasy manufacturing operation" out of his Tempe apartment, police say.
According to an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman, the discovery stemmed from the student -- whose name hasn't been released at this point -- getting pulled over by Highway Patrol for driving in the HOV lane.
That traffic stop Wednesday evening near Interstate 17 and Thomas Road led to a search of the 20-year-old student's vehicle, in which police allegedly found a backpack with Ecstasy pills and cocaine.
Detectives ended up obtaining search warrants for his home in Goodyear, plus his apartment in Tempe, at a yet-unidentified complex near Apache Road and Rural Road in Tempe.
"Detectives found 30 pounds of product used to manufacture Ecstasy pills in the apartment along with thousands of ecstasy pills," DPS says in a statement. "The apartment was essentially a pill factory which included a 'pill press' complete with a motor."
A DPS spokesman says no further information is being released right now, but promises crime-scene photos later today.
Check back for updates.
UPDATE 12:55 p.m.: DPS delivered the photos. Check them out on the next page.
For those interested in the potential quality of the product, a search of pillreports.com shows no white Rolex crowns in the southwest reviewed in the last year.
UPDATE December 6: The student has been identified as Andrew James Gajkowski. Four other students were also arrested in the alleged enterprise, although police haven't specified their roles at this point.
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