Federal Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI agents swarmed into the Jersey City Heights today, arresting a pharmacist on drug production charges and then discovering a large cache of weapons, ammunition and acid at a storage facility at the Tonnelle Circle, officials said.

Jordan Gonzalez, 33, formerly of Jersey City and now of New York, was arrested after law enforcement agents descended on a Bleecker Street building early this morning, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced today.

He is charged with attempting to manufacture methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and possession of chemicals and materials to manufacture a controlled substance, officials said.

Later, federal agents moved to the U-Haul on Tonnelle Avenue, where a large amount the weapons, ammunition and acid was found, according to two city officials. Information was not immediately available from federal officials on the items found at the U-Haul or if the discovery had led to additional charges being filed or additional arrests.

Federal officials said additional warrants were being served in both New Jersey and New York in connection with the investigation.

Gonzalez used an online auction site, believed to be eBay, to purchase materials associated with the manufacture of the hallucinogen as well as various chemicals, flasks and empty gel caps and a machine to fill them, according to the complaint. The U.S. Attorney's Offices confirmed Gonzalez went by the eBay user name "j0r62n."

Gonzalez allegedly conducted internet research on the manufacture of MDA, the complaint says.

FBI agents and Jersey City police sealed off the area in front of 8 Bleecker St. between Summit and Central avenues for further investigation after arresting Gonzalez around 12:30 a.m. today, an eyewitness said.

They evacuated the building, as well as an adjacent building on Central Avenue, with federal authorities saying it was due to the potential danger from chemicals that might be found there.

Jersey City police spokesman Bob McHugh said residents of the Central Avenue building were allowed to return home at about 5 p.m. but the Bleecker Street building is still occupied by investigators tonight.

Juliana Medina, 23, who has lived at 447 Central Ave. for the past year, said she was told she couldn't return to her home, the building that sits adjacent to the site being investigated. At least two neighborhood buildings were evacuated by police as a precautionary measure.

“This has never happened before in this neighborhood,” Medina said, “This is a quiet area.”

Medina said she received a call this morning to pick up her daughter at a nearby daycare and has been waiting outside her building since 8:30 a.m.

Yellow police caution tape lines one side of Central Avenue stretching from South Street to past Bleecker Street.

Several sources said that when officials first responded to Bleecker Street, investigators were looking into suspicions involving the chemical or biological warfare agent ricin. Federal officials would not confirm that and said they had no information to release on the matter. The charges do no reflect the discovery of ricin.

In addition to officials from the FBI and local police, agents from the DEA, bomb squad and Jersey City Fire dDpartment remain on the scene along with ambulances from Jersey City Medical Center.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop was at the scene earlier today and was briefed by police and the FBI.

- Jersey Journal City Editor Jack Durschlag contributed to this report