A Nanjing “Breaking Bad” fan, enthralled by the American TV series, spent days in his flat watching the show after he resigning from his job.
Thinking it a master plan Mr. Zhang, 26, then sought out makers of methamphetamine (meth) online via group chats on the popular QQ portal, and became schooled in the art of mixing the recreational drug.
Broadcast originally on the AMC cable television network in the USA between 2008 and 2013, the cult show centres around a terminally-ill high school chemistry teacher who turns to producing crystallised meth to cater for his family’s future finances after his death.
Zhang invested in ¥1,000 worth of methamphetamine rolled in cigarettes, in order to understand the drug better himself, and later brought home chemicals, moulding and other tool, then set about manufacturing large amounts of the drug.
On suspicion of drug production, the police arrested Zhang in March this year. He then attended a Yuhuatai District court trial on 9 August.
In what is a kind of metaphor for the television series itself, in which is presented the moral conundrum whereby doing bad things feels good, Zhang claimed during the trial that he was just producing the drug “out of curiosity” and “didn’t intend to sell the drugs”.
