Police in the US state of Florida have arrested more than a dozen people from a meth trafficking network whose leader idolised Breaking Bad anti-hero Walter White.
A total of 16 people, including alleged kingpin John Wayne Bell, 49, his son John Jr and his wife Colleene were arrested on Wednesday in the Orlando area, with police still hunting for more suspects.
Police say that Bell felt an affinity for White, the main protagonist of the Breaking Bad television series in which a chemistry professor ends up becoming a meth kingpin.
"It appeared he emulated that character," Lieutenant Doug Georke of the Orlando Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation told WESH television news.
One picture of the suspect shows him wearing a black felt hat, similar to the one that became White's trademark.
Police searched Bell's home, which was used as a stash house for the synthetic drug methamphetamine, sold on the street as "meth" or "crystal".
He is accused of supplying "multiple pounds" of meth to drug dealers in central Florida.
Bell's long criminal history includes arrests for meth and cocaine trafficking, burglary, counterfeiting, grand theft and aggravated assault of a police officer.
He has been jailed three times for meth trafficking and was released from state prison in December, just a month before police launched the investigation that led to his most recent arrest.
AFP
source: newshub archive
