SAN DIEGO -- Eight young men arrested, along with dozens of others, in an undercover drug operation at San Diego State University targeting drug dealers and buyers pleaded not guilty Wednesday to various drug offenses.

The number of arrests now exceeds 120 people, including 75 students, according to Eileen Ziedler of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Jarrod Skippon, 19; Joshua Matsuda, 19; Chaz Lomack, 22; Terrance Blackman, 19; Aaron Heffernan, 19; Samuel Welsh, 18; Nicolas Delacruz, 22; and Tarek El Hadidi, 21, entered pleas Wednesday before Judge David Szumowski, with more arraignments expected Thursday.

Skippon's attorney, Marc Carlos, said outside the courtroom that he's worried about a rush to judgment in the drug cases.

"We just need to slow this thing down a little bit," Carlos told reporters. "There's a lot of excitement that going on about all the arrests, and the fact that these are college students, but the fact that there's drugs on college campuses is nothing new.

"I think that the District Attorney's Office is making this a lot bigger than it actually is, and once this case settles down and you see exactly what each individual defendant did, and they get treated fairly, I think it's going to end up as not as big a deal as the way it's being portrayed."

The students were arrested at the culmination of "Operation Sudden Fall," an undercover drug operation that produced the largest campus drug bust ever in San Diego County, said Ralph Partridge, special agent in charge of the DEA's San Diego Field Office.

Undercover agents infiltrated the campus by attending fraternity parties, soon gaining the trust of drug dealers.

The dealers relied on technology to conduct their business. One suspected dealer, 19-year-old Kenneth Ciaccio, allegedly sent a mass text message early last month to "faithful customers," saying he was traveling to Las Vegas and would not be able to make his usual sales.

Ciaccio is a member of Theta Chi, one of the six fraternities placed on suspension following the arrests pending a hearing into their alleged involvement in the drug dealing, according to the university.

The others are Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Mu.

Authorities seized more than $100,000 worth of illegal drugs, including about four pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of marijuana and 350 ecstasy pills, as well as cash and weapons. Also seized were hashish oil, methamphetamine, psychedelic mushrooms and illicit prescription drugs and firearms, according to the District Attorney's Office.

One of the students under arrest is an alleged cocaine dealer who was just a month shy of getting his master's degree in Homeland Security. He worked as a student community service officer.

Another student arrested for alleged possession of 500 grams of cocaine and illegal possession of two guns is a criminal justice major.

The arrests coincided with the one-year anniversary of the death that triggered the investigation.

Nineteen-year-old SDSU freshman Jenny Poliakoff attended an Alpha Phi sorority party on May 5 last year and died early the next day in her off-campus apartment. An autopsy found cocaine in her system.

Another student from Mesa Community College died during the undercover investigation. Authorities said 22-year-old Kurt Baker died from an accidental overdose of cocaine in an SDSU fraternity house on Feb. 24.

"This investigation spotlights two tragedies," Partridge said, "the tragic death overdose death of two college students and secondly, the shattered futures of those students who choose to continue to engage in the illicit sale and usage of a myriad of controlled substances."

Poliakoff's parents told The San Diego Union-Tribune they knew nothing of the investigation until yesterday, but were grateful for it.

In addition to students, some of those arrested are documented gang members, including 36-year-old Omar Castaneda, who has pleaded not guilty to being a cocaine supplier.

Other arrestees identified include 20-year-old Patrick Hawley, who was already in jail for an unrelated robbery case. Hawley allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover agent and often bragged about how he was going to take over as a seller for another person.

Any of the students under arrest who lived in campus housing prior to yesterday's arrests have been evicted, SDSU President Stephen L. Weber said in a mass e-mail to the student body.

"They will not be returning to class or taking final exams until completion of due-process review, to which they are entitled under the law," Weber said.