WIREDGOV

A crooked chemistry lecturer’s plan to produce vast quantities of amphetamine in a Breaking Bad-style operation has been stopped before it could get up and running.

Ryszard Jakubczyk, aged 61, from Poland, who is known in the criminal world as ‘the Professor’, set up a secret lab in a mirror of the US TV show’s plot.

Jakubczyk and his criminal associates planned to make up to 40 kilos of high-purity amphetamine – worth £4million - every 48 hours.

National Crime Agency officers put the crime group under surveillance and swooped after they produced a test batch in the lab, which was concealed by trees in the garden of a house in Grantham. They used an underground bunker to store dangerous chemicals.

Dave Archer, from the NCA, said: "The plot was like a real-life version of Breaking Bad. This chemistry lecturer was going to use his skills to produce amphetamine on an industrial scale. We were able to shut down the crime group's operation and deny them access to huge profits."

Jakubczyk, who trained in narcotics and became a university lecturer in Warsaw, was jailed for nine years at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty of conspiracies to produce and supply amphetamine.

Piotr Turek, aged 35, from Kilkenny, Ireland, was in charge of distribution in the UK, Ireland and Poland. He was also found guilty and received eight years. Officers found amphetamine concealed within his car’s air filter.

Two other crime group members from Grantham - Ernest Skorupa, aged 36, of Cornwall Close, and Ewa Lyzwa-Cias, aged 60, of Queensway – were sentenced to seven and five years respectively.