Breaking Bad for Real for Self-Taught Chinese Drug Maker

A real life version of “Breaking Bad” that was playing out in China has witnessed its own “series finale.” A self-taught man, with only a middle school education, was described by police as surpassing the skills of some organized gangs in manufacturing methamphetamine.

A man by the surname Lei was arrested on Jan. 5 after establishing a methamphetamine laboratory under the stairs of his first floor apartment in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, according to the Chengdu Economic Daily.

Lei’s method was perfected through trial and error, including by sampling his own drug. Just as his production hit high levels of purity, the police found him.

Lei told a court hearing that, after getting laid off from his leather factory job, he could make easy money cooking meth. Lei, who only had a middle school education, taught himself chemistry over a four to five-year period.

The discovery was made when the anti-drug division of the district’s public security bureau noticed chemicals being delivered to Lei’s residential district—chemicals that can be specifically used for drug production.

The police described a pungent odor emanating from the room as they prepared for an arrest. Meth labs have a variety of odors, including that of cat urine or rotten eggs.

What they discovered inside Lei’s apartment was a fully functional lab, over 180 grams (6.3 oz.) of methamphetamine, and over 5 liters (1.4 gallons) of liquid that was reported to contain drugs. Police also found 20 notebooks filled with notes from his self-taught education process, and 10 chemistry related books.

The police described the earliest notes as relatively shallow, but his later methods were advanced, with knowledge of five different ways to produce the drug.

In China, drug related charges often carry heavy sentences. A Canadian citizen was sentenced to death on Jan. 14 for charges of smuggling 222 kilograms (490 pounds) of methamphetamine from China to Australia.

Chinese drugs have also been arriving in America. On Jan. 13, one individual died from a fentanyl overdose, with over 10 other people being hospitalized in Chico, California.

Two Chinese citizens from Shanghai were charged in the United States with operating a fentanyl production ring. Their fentanyl was responsible for the death of two people in Ohio, according to the prosecution.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called the fentanyl export to America a form of undeclared warfare.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has promised to crack down on fentanyl production, a drug similar to, but much stronger than heroin.

Chinese companies have also made minor modifications to fentanyl recipes, likely to dodge legal implications within China. Deaths and damage in America still continue from fentanyl use.